Coming Round
by playingpossum
Summary: With the smell of strawberries slightly wafting through his nose, Karupin slipped into a contented sleep.RyoSaku.
1. Chapter 1

**I do not own the obvious**

* * *

Ryuzaki Sakuno stared at her computer screen, her lips pursed in a moue of concentration. Her eyes blinked every few seconds or so, digesting the information on the screen in front of her. Absently, she scratched at a spot where her glasses were digging into her skin. After a few minutes, she sighed despondently, and gave up the attempt. Again, she wondered why she bothered to try so hard when the project had been doomed from the moment her English teacher had mouthed the word 'Essay'. Maybe her history of sadism had played a role. Or perhaps a momentary mental relapse, which, if Sakuno was being honest, occurred quite recently in all of her 14 years of living. And who was she, if not the harbinger of truth. Why, just the other day, she had quite honestly told her grandmother, that No, she was _Absolutely Not_ pining her heart away for a certain tennis prodigy. She had thrown in words like 'mature', 'practical' and 'sensible' into the conversation for added effect, just in case her grandmother did not believe her.

And she really was Maria Sharapova. At this thought, she softly snickered to herself, picturing her hours spent in futile attempts to even swing a tennis racket properly. I really am going high on the nuts-o-meter today, she thought amusedly to herself. Shaking her errant thoughts away, she began flexing her fingers and proceeded to hack away at her laptop keys, hell bent on completing her essay. And for the 189th time that day, she thought to the enigmatic email she had received from The Boy Who Belonged in the Past.

'No, no, stop it dammit. Remember, I am a mature, practical, sensible young lady. I am not pining away for T.B.W.B.I.T.P I am a mature, prac-'

As if in a trance, she found her eyes slowly travelling across her small room, to rest upon the mailed letter conspicuously placed on her bedspread. A letter with a return address marked to an American residence, a world away from where she was. A letter with familiar, wiry, obviously _male_ handwriting, addressed to _her_, of all people.

Well, wasn't she screwed.

Like a moth to a flame, she shakily began to stretch her arm out for it. Just as one her of fingertips was about to make contact, a shrill ring reverberated throughout the room. She froze for a moment, before diving for the handphone on her desk . The phone slipped through her hands her a few times in her skittish state before she managed a breathless 'Hello?'

'Oei Sakuno, where are you? I've been here for a century you know,'

' Tomo-Chan? Wha...What do you mean? Were we supposed to-'

' Ah sheesh, you forgot again didn't you? Remember, we were supposed to go to the library, help me with my art? I knew I should have gone over to your place first, I just knew that-'

'Yes, Tomo-chan, I know, I know' Sakuno hastened to respond. Tomo, bless her heart, despite being Sakuno's best friend, unfortunately had the capacity to rant for hours whenever she felt she had been maligned in any way. 'I'll be there in about twenty minutes, I promise. Meet you there soon?'

Before her friend had a chance to squawk her indignation, Sakuno hurriedly hung up her phone, grabbed her purse, and nearly flew out her door, when she spied on the letter again. In a sudden fit of anger, she snatched it off her bed and slammed it into her trash can. Seemingly satisfied, she turned and made her way to the library.

* * *

Something wet was prodding his skin. He came into contact with fur when he tried to push the offending object away, but it only came back to meow loudly in his ear. Determinedly, he turned on his side and ignored Karupin, his faithful companion of ten years. For eff's sake, it was only 4 hours ago when he fed the stupid cat. He squinted his eyes at the clock on the opposite wall. Ok, so it was seven hours ago. Karupin prodded at his face then with her paw, a woebegone expression on her face. He glared back at her. The exchange lasted for a few more seconds before his cat plopped softly onto the floor, gave a stretch worthy of a yoga master, and yowled at him to move his butt out of the bed and into the kitchen.

Echizen Ryoma always was a sucker for his cat.

"I'm the owner here. I do all the heavy lifting. I'm the one who cleans your litter box, stupid cat," the surly young man intoned as he sluggishly walked out of his room. Karupin meowed in agreement, although it sounded as if she merely did so to appease him.

After setting a plate of canned pet food in front of her, he settled down onto a chair and rubbed his eyes sleepily. He had no idea where his parents were, nor did he want to know. It was not unusual to find them missing in the morning. His father had had an aneurysm one day and declared that a daily morning jog was monumental for his 'aging heap of bones'. His wife had been unwittingly dragged into the whole idea, although now it seemed that she was the one who was more excited about it.

He was yawning widely when he saw the pile of mail placed neatly in the middle of the kitchen table. He cocked his head slightly to the side, a look of consideration on his face before he settled the pile in front of him. Bills, some ads, magazines, more bills, some fan mail, a swimsuit magazine addressed to their number 1 subscriber, various other ads and finally a sample of a perfume for his mother.

With great relish, Ryoma threw the swimsuit magazine into a nearby dustbin and ignored the rest. He unconsciously tapped the wooden table, contemplating. So far, so good. Ryuzaki had heeded his request and had obviously not responded to his 'accidental' letter from 2 months ago.

Thinking about the content of the letter made his face blanch. It was a horrible mistake, committed when he was in a drunken stupor. His father had encouraged him to down a few sips of sake when they were having an old family friend over. Embarrassingly, those few sips were enough to turn him into an intoxicated puppy. His father had gathered a lot of ammunition that night, damn him.

In his room later that evening, he had proceeded to write a letter to someone he had not given much, or any thought to for that matter. Why a handwritten letter, he had no idea, emails were so much more efficient. In his somewhat buzzed up state however, it had insanely made perfect sense.

Whatever was written in there, he was determined that it was never going to see the light of day. He barely recalled the exact words used, but he knew that it was not meant to be read by anyone. Especially the old coach's granddaughter.

Once he was sober, he had plowed through his room to find Ryuzaki's old email address. Luckily, he managed to find it scrawled in one of his old school diaries. Writing a short but to-the point email, he had told her, quite implicitly, that if any letter were to arrive, from him to her, to dispose of it. He had conjured an excuse that it was for someone else, was very private, and that in his haste to mail it out, he had accidentally written down her address.

Why he wrote her address on the letter, he didn't bother to explain. He just hoped that the ditzy Ryuzaki would just take everything at face value and throw the letter out. After all, that was what he remembered most about her. Quiet, unassuming, clumsy, ditzy Ryuzaki Sakuno.

So that it was it then, problem solved. The letter was disposed, Ryuzaki had not contacted him, and his cat was fed. Life was good once again.

If only he knew that the letter would later on have a bigger role to play out in the near future.

* * *

**I am merely a bored office worker, with too much time on hand**

**Please be kind, I welcome constructive criticism with open arms**


	2. Chapter 2

**I cannot own the obvious**

Ryoma, Sakuno and their peers are all a magical 17.**  
**

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_ 3 years later, as most stories usually are…_

This could possibly be the worst day of her life. The first clue was when her grandmother had told her that Ryoma would arrive later that evening. Despite being warned weeks ahead, Sakuno realized that she would never be prepared to face him. She had spent the day tripping and sputtering more than usual, a dazed expression on her features.

In short, she was Kawamura on steroids. Not a pretty sight.

When Sakuno had banged her elbow on the corner of her desk the 18th time that day, Tomoka finally dragged her out to the bathroom. Sensei wasn't even given a chance to stop their tracks. If Tomoka wanted something done, even Tezuka stepped aside. Sakuno knew to resist was futile, so she allowed herself to be led away.

Once they were safely ensconced in the bathroom, Tomoka dropped Sakuno's hand and glared at her. Then, she took a deep breath, and tried to scrunch her features into something more pleasant. She was failing at it, Sakuno noticed amusedly.

'Tell me what's wrong,'

'Nothing's wrong Tomo-Chan.'

'Your socks are different, your plaits are lopsided, and there's a stain on your right sleeve,'

At this, Sakuno hastily looked down at herself. One of her socks was their usual customary black, while the other was navy blue. She ignored the stain and her hair. 'Mou…' She said while adjusting her glasses, a telltale sign of nervousness.

'Saku-

'Icanttellyounow,' Sakuno rushed in.

'What?'

'I said I can't tell you now. You'll probably know next week or so.'

'Sakuno, are you sick or something? You're not going to die on me right?' Tomoka's voice was increasing, something which Sakuno was trying to avoid.

'No, no, I'm fine! It's just that…. things are complicated now. Grandmother has told me some things, which right now I can't tell anyone. It's nothing bad, I swear,'

'Is it so important that you can't even tell your best friend?'

'You are the only person I would want to tell, but even to you, I can't…'

* * *

When they were 5, and already inseparable, most had predicted that Sakuno would be a raving beauty while Tomoka would probably be 'merely passable'. This did not turn out to be true

A growth spurt in more areas than one had easily ensured that Tomoka was The Girl at 13. Suddenly boys paid attention whenever she spoke. Horio started to be nicer to her. He even asked her out once, and had not stopped trying since. Even the senior classmen took notice.

Sakuno, even at 17, was still waiting for body parts that never seemed to arrive. She had acquired glasses at 14, no doubt from her habit of reading in bad light. Her hair was still in twin plaits, unchanged since she was born. Grace would never be imbued in her; she only grew clumsier in time.

Despite their differences in personality, the two girls got along beautifully. Tomoka once said that they complemented each other, two awkward pieces making a perfect fit. Of course, they fought frequently. Though Tomoka was the only person, other than her own family, that Sakuno was comfortable enough to raise her voice at.

Sakuno sighed, and tried to kick a pebble that was in her path. Unsurprisingly, she missed and kicked her left ankle instead. Cursing and hobbling under her breath, she slowly made the familiar route home.

She wondered how Ryoma would react if she even had a percentage of Tomoka's beauty. This was disturbing to her, as she had never thought much of physical appearances. Sakuno had never worn makeup; she did not even own a single tube of lipstick. She was not ignorant of it; she had helped Tomoka numerous times to prepare for dates. Sakuno just had not felt the urge to 'doll herself up'. That pretty much died when Ryoma left.

……..Ryoma. Ryoma, Ryoma.

When Sakuno's household had heard news from two months ago that Echizen Ryoma, Tennis Prodigy and renowned tennis player, was retiring, they were astounded. It was unthinkable, him retiring at 17.

Grandmother had received a call a week later. At first, it was all hush hush. Sakuno had no idea what was being woven, she was valiantly trying not to care. Then it all blew up in her face 3 weeks later.

Ryoma was not retiring for the sake of retiring. He was retiring because he could not play.

The details were all too murky for Sakuno to comprehend. She only understood that Ryoma was injured and hurting, and that she was not there. Not that she would have been any help, but to simply be there and see for herself that he was taken care of would have been enough. She really was that pathetic, it seemed.

It only got worse, or better. Grandmother had deliriously suggested to Echizen Nanjiroh that his son should stay with her for a while. It was simple, she would use her years of training experience to help him regain his strength back. Tezuka, a former injured player, would be roped in as well. Japan was also convenient for its brilliant medical field, and a change of scene would do Ryoma good.

So it was decided. Ryoma would move back to Japan for an indefinite period of time. He would train once again with his old coach and Tezuka. He would stay with his old coach. With Sakuno.

Sakuno quickened her steps to reach home.

* * *

To be honest, I have no idea where I'm going with this. I have an idea of how I want the letter Ryoma drunkenly wrote to be woven in, but the rest is pretty much on the spot writing. This might be bad I realize. I may need an editor, should i choose to continue to write more. Pretty much depends on the response I guess. 


	3. Chapter 3

**I only wish to own the obvious**

* * *

Nanjiroh stared at his son's profile. Ryoma was gazing out of the car, his features devoid of any expression. This was not unusual. Ryoma mostly presented himself in a stoic manner. What caught his attention was the way his son would repeatedly fist his left hand. From this subtle action, Nanjiroh knew that Ryoma was sulking, in his own silent way.

Though he would never admit it to anyone, (his wife notwithstanding, she was another entity in itself) Nanjiroh was actually quite worried about his son. Ever since the physician stressed the seriousness of Ryoma's condition, the whole family had felt the impact. Ryoma became more withdrawn, if that was even possible.

When the old hag Sumire suggested Ryoma stay with them awhile, he and the missus had jumped at the chance. America was only reminding Ryoma of his present condition, and it would do Ryoma good to see his old friends. Perhaps he would even remember why it was he played tennis in the first place.

"What are you looking at, baka?" Ryoma said without glancing away from the car window.

Nanjiroh smirked. The brat was getting cocky. Surely a good sign.

"Nothing. Just thinking what great genes I passed down,"

Ryoma did not reply. Nanjiroh felt his smirk slowly slipping away. He hoped Japan would heal Ryoma. Else, he would have the missus to answer to.Ryoma did seem to be really depressed this time...

"Everyone says I look like mum,"

* * *

"Tomo-chan, can I stay with you?" 

"And I said to Horio, it's not just what you said, it's the way you said it. Of course Horio doesn't understand, after all, he is the lesser speci-"

"Tomo-chan, I need to stay with you tonight and if you don't answer me I'll tell Horio that you talk about him 24 hours a day."

"Sakuno, that's impossible. For one thing, I sleep 16 hours. For another, I'm going out on a date tonight."

"Wha….but, tonight is monopoly and popcorn night!"

"Yes but Sakuno, it's Kiyosumi Sengoku. We can always do monopop another night. You cancelled on me twice before you know."

"I was sick!"

"You were in mourning because Ryoma left."

At this, Sakuno's heart made a tiny spasm inside of her. Typical.

"Anyway, I thought you had a guest visiting today. I heard from Horio that your grandma cancelled practice because someone important was coming by your house. She looked pretty gleeful about it. Oh, is it an omiai?!"

"…………Am I so hopeless that grandmother has to set up an omiai for me at 17?"

"Bite your tongue. And no, you are not hopeless. Sakuno, you deliberately hide your looks. Anyway, will you help me get ready? Have to leave in 3 hours.

"Anou… It's going to take you _three_ hours to prepare for a date?"

"It's not a date. It's **the** date."

Tomo's phone suddenly rang. At the lull in conversation, Sakuno tuned in to her own thoughts. She was a coward. She was just so _freaking scared _of T.B.W.B.I.T.P that she was resorting to asking Tomo if she could stay with her. While Tomo was her dearest friend (sometimes) her 3 younger brothers were not. The eldest of them, a 14 year old, frankly gave Sakuno the heebie jeebies. She could have sworn he had glanced a tad too long at her butt a month ago. And Tomo wondered why she missed two nights of monopop.

"Horio, does it matter what im going to wear to meet Kiyo-kun? If I want to wear my blue shirt, I'll wear it. If I want to wear a bikini, I'll wear it. If I want to go topless, I'll do it! It.Is.None.Of.Your.Business."

Silence reigned after that last shot. Even Sakuno raised an eyebrow at Tomo's agitation. She could make out the words 'protection' and 'I don't care what you freakin wear' coming out from Horio's end. Tomo's face was turning redder by the moment.

"That's it Horio! If you can't be nice, then stop calling me!"

End of round 678. Winner this time was Tomo, Sakuno mentally noted.

* * *

The house still looked the same, was the first thought that came to Ryoma's mind. He probably came here twice, but it was surprisingly ingrained into his memory. Perhaps he would analyze this later, if he were the type to nitpick over everything. He was not. 

Oyaji was ringing the doorbell for the fourth time. The swear words were becoming more audible, Ryoma no longer too young for him to have to mask them. The bag on Ryoma's right shoulder grew heavier by the minute. He was about to switch the strap when he remembered that he wasn't supposed to strain his left shoulder. His mood soured even further.

A sudden yell came from inside the house before the front door was ripped open. A disheveled Sumire stood panting in front of them.

"Sheesh Oba san, if you're _busy,_ we can come later." Sumire duly responded by cuffing the side of her former student's head. Hard.

"I was cleaning, you pervert. Now come in, both of you. I've made tea, and it's not going to stay hot forever." She glanced at Ryoma, smiled warmly and proceeded to walk further into the house. All without sparing a glance at his left hand.

It was as if Ryoma had never left. He grudgingly felt comforted that Sumire was not clutching and babying him, a nightmare envisioned by him the night before. Perhaps it would somehow be all right….

Ryoma quietly took in the surroundings of the house. He had never actually been inside; the only player privileged enough to have stepped into the old coach's house was Tezuka-buchou. The rest were likely too frightened to invite themselves into the lion's den.

While Oyaji and the old coach disappeared into the kitchen, Ryoma ascended the staircase by the wall. He was tired, his bags were heavy. He was planning on availing himself on the nearest bed and chanced upon a room containing such a prized item. Ryoma guessed it was his due to his pre-mailed boxes placed neatly by the bed. Promptly, he kicked the door close without a backward glance.

* * *

"So, how is Ryoma?" Sumire asked softly. 

"He's hating himself," Nanjiroh put across bluntly.

"Saa, as expected of Ryoma." Both parties mused silently at that statement, lost in their own thoughts.

"Well, it's not impossible. Ryoma is still young, and that specialist… what's his name? Sano...Sanosuke?"

"Ah, Reiji Sanosuke."

"Right. I asked my doctor friend about him the other day, says that Reiji is highly sought after. So that takes care of the physical aspect-"

"Correct. The thing is, my brat isn't keen on him."

" Eh?! It must be the idiotic genes that you passed down." Nanjiroh spewed his tea all over himself at this, an incredulous expression on his face. He was about to defend himself when Sumire suddenly broke in,

"This injury thing. It's really pulling him down eh... Tell me honestly Nanjiroh; does he even have the will to play anymore?"

"Heh.With him, who knows?"

* * *

Sakuno dragged her feet along the pavement. Every step inevitably brought her closer to Ryoma. That brought about a riotous mix of emotions that she did not have the energy to sort out. Grandmother had texted her 5 hours ago, shortly after Ryoma's arrival. Sakuno merely said that she would be returning late, an emergency (more like a fashion emergency on Tomo's part) had come up and she was helping to solve it. 

Behind her glasses, her eyes slowly welled up. She took her glasses off, and gently rubbed her eyes. Crying was a norm when it came to Ryoma, though she was slowly weaning herself off it. When her eyes had dried, she patted her cheeks and put on her glasses again.

She realized that Ryoma very likely had forgotten about her. Except for the mysterious letter from him years before, they had no contact with each other. Sakuno had desperately wanted to write or call him, but she was so panic stricken at the thought of him cruelly dismissing her that she hadn't.

The steps leading her front door soon came into view. I really am not prepared for this, Sakuno thought. She twiddled her thumbs for a minute in front of the door. Adjusted her glasses. Retied her plaits. Then, with her beating so loudly that she was sure the neighbours would yell at her to shut up, she unlocked the door and stepped inside.

The house was silent. Hardly an anomaly considering the late hour. A sudden, dry rasping sound had her jumping in fright then. It seemed to be coming from the kitchen.Sakuno was by no means a daring, brave girl but she felt compelled to investigate the noise for the safety of the house's current occupants.

Trembling, she pushed open the kitchen door. The sight left her both relieved and amused. Her grandmother and Ryoma's father were sprawled asleep in their respective chairs. One only had to look at the bottles of sake strewn around the table to guess their activities. The sound that had caused her palpitations earlier was in fact the sound of Ryoma's father snoring. Giggling louder this time, she slowly backed out of the kitchen.

Shuffling to her bedroom, she stretched out the kinks in her neck, wincing slightly at the soreness. While Tomo was picking out an outfit for her date earlier, Sakuno had been on her friend's computer, mindlessly surfing. The funny angle at which the monitor was faced had definitely damaged something in her nerve. Why, she could swear that she was even looking at things lopsidedly, perhaps even now, her neck was slowly but surely lopping off her head and sliding-

_Ryoma was sleeping on her bed._

* * *

Monopop – abbreviation from monopoly and popcorn 

Omiai - old Japanese custom whereby unattached individuals are introduced to each other

T.B.W.B.I.T.P – The Boy Who Belonged In The Past, aka Ochibi

**Well, that's done. I think if I don't get at least 5 reviews, I'll retire from my short stint at fanfiction. That's a hint folks,**


	4. Chapter 4

**Maybe _you_ own the obvious **

* * *

_Ryoma was sleeping on her bed._

The room was conspicuously silent, the only sound audible being Sakuno's breathing. In and out. In. Out. She involuntarily took a step back, only to collide with the door that was not fully shut. Worried at once that the sound of her clumsiness would wake him, she frantically turned only to find him still sleeping.

_What is he doing here?_

Couldn't he tell that this was obviously her room? Granted, it was bare due to her freakish stand on cleanliness but little items that were obviously hers were thrown all around. Her pink lampshade, self-made. A picture of her grandmother and her on the bookcase. The stuffed cat on her bed. Wait a minute, she thought. Where was her stuffed cat? Did Ryoma throw it away or something?

Anger propelled her nearer to the bed. She was about to roughly shake the _inconsiderate ass_ awake when he mumbled something in his sleep. She froze, her hands in their halfway motion. When Ryoma merely quieted down and shifted slightly, she gave a relieved sigh.

Quietly, Sakuno gazed at the person she admittedly wanted to see most during the past few years. Her heart clenched, noticing the changes on his person. No doubt about it, Ryoma had grown into a very handsome young man. His hair looked soft and was dark as ink. A stray lock was brushing across his forehead; her fingers itched to push it back. She noticed how long his lashes were, curling slightly at the edges. His cheekbones were prominent now though, and he appeared to be gaunter than when she last saw him.

She also found out something new about Ryoma that night. Similarly with his father, he too snored. Unlike Nanjiroh however, Ryoma's was softer, and sort of breathy. She found herself smiling like a fool, thinking how adorable it was. This was a precious secret that she would never share with anyone.

Finally giving in, she reached out her hand and ever so gently, pushed Ryoma's hair back, slightly caressing it at the same time. It really was as soft as it looked.

"Welcome back, Ryoma-kun…" she whispered.

Sakuno got up from where she was kneeling on the floor, and padded as quietly she could out the door. Never noticing a pair of golden eyes shining brightly at her when her back was turned.

…………………………………………………….

When Ryoma woke, he felt a sudden pang of loneliness. He missed his cat horribly; her presence was a much needed balm in the morning. Instead, he sighed and burrowed himself deeper into the covers. When the alarm that was set on his phone began to buzz, he hazily grabbed at it and shoved it under the mattress.

He knew he was delaying the inevitable. He was living with the coach; of course he would come across Ryuzaki regularly in his stay. It was also very likely that he would be attending the same school as her. So chances were, they were going to be seeing a lot of each other.

He was not particularly bothered by this. To be bothered was to admit that he had feelings for Ryuzaki. And if there was ever something that Ryoma was sure of (other than Tennis) was that he felt nothing for her.

Which did not explain why he grew hot thinking about her hands gently sliding through his hair…

……………………………………………………..

Sakuno was in a state of conundrum. Did she scramble them? Should she flip it into an omelet? What if Ryoma didn't even like eggs?

This was turning into a disaster. She really was a useless ditz if she couldn't even fry eggs for Ryoma. And for her grandmother of course. This flustering was not for Ryoma, she was just preparing breakfast as was traditional on Sunday mornings.

When the eggs were slightly browned, she flipped it and neatly slidded it onto a warm plate. Pleased with the presentation, she turned to place it on the table. Only to come across Ryoma standing still by the kitchen door.

His parched throat had finally forced him to come out his room. He had planned to grab a can of ponta from the fridge and hole himself in his room. The sight of Ryuzaki cooking at the stove was something he did not expect though. Her back was facing him and though they were a few feet apart he could hear her muttering to herself while her customary braids swung around her hips as she moved. He was about to escape from a potentially awkward situation when she had abruptly turned.

The thousand thoughts running through Sakuno's mind halted to a comical stop. Hormones that had remained dormant since the start of puberty were suddenly creating a paroxysm of historic proportions inside of her. Apparently, the sight of a tousled, sleepy induced tennis prodigy was what it took to push them over.

"Ah…eggs…Echizen-san…?" Idiot formerly known as Ryuzaki Sakuno mumbled while holding out the plate of eggs expectantly.

Ryoma quirked an eyebrow. Some things never changed. Ryuzaki was still a ditz. He had nothing to vex himself about.

"Thank you. But … I'm not hungry,"

"Oh..of course! You must be tired! Yes, yes..Ahah.." Sakuno awkwardly tied to dissipate the tension. Inwardly she was screaming obscenities at herself for being such a fool.

While Sakuno remained rooted to the spot, Ryoma moved towards the fridge and plucked out a bottle of milk. "Going to my room now, ja."

Sakuno merely nodded at him and smiled hesitantly. When Ryoma left, she sat at the table and started to eat her recently cooked plate of eggs. She stubbornly refused to acknowledge the tears meandering down her cheeks and into her eggs. A little salt never did anyone wrong.

…………………………………….

His face was strangely hot again. He rubbed at it to dispel the warmth. When he had heard Sakuno crying at the table, he had felt the most compelling urge to rush in and…and….

And what? Wipe her tears?

He shook his head, as if to clear his thoughts. Gulping at his milk, he was once again back in his room. Bending at the knees, he moved two large boxes containing his apparel nearer to where he was at the bed. Absent mindedly, he took stock of everything. One of the boxes contained his clothes and several knick knacks like his console games. The other contained his tennis items. Broodingly, he shoved the box away. That would likely never be opened again. His mother had probably packed them.

Sighing, he picked out several folded clothes and moved towards the drawers. He was stunned into stupidity at the sight that greeted him. Rows and rows of…feminine items were staring at him. Laid out neatly. In colour. Like an army. _Was that one actually dotted with_ _tennis rackets_?

He was about to shove the drawer close and possibly run towards the hills when of course Ryuzaki knocked on the door and peeped in. She was about to say something when she noticed that her drawers was open. And that a stoic looking Ryoma was standing right in front of her open drawer, his hands hovering over her underwear.

If there truly was a kami-sama, she would like to die now.

* * *

** So..i updated. To my dear reviewers, as small as you are, I write for you and you alone. **

**Will need a beta reader in future. Story is getting longer than i expected. And yes, I plan to introduce the other Seigaku members but for now, want to center it on RyoSaku **


	5. Chapter 5

**It's obvious by now right?**

* * *

_A stoic looking Ryoma was standing right in front of her open drawer, his hands hovering over her underwear._

_If there truly was a kami-sama, she would like to die now_.

* * *

Was his expression one of guilt? He looked guilty, didn't he? Ryoma carefully tried to school his features into one of nonchalance. This took a tremendous amount of effort on his part considering he was seconds away from turning into a raving lunatic. He hoped his nose was not bleeding from the endorphin rush he was getting, like how those anime characters on screen did when they were in a 'hentai' situation. And usually, in such 'hentai' situations, it involved the outraged female (read: Sakuno) kicking the incriminating male character (read: Ryoma) into space. Kami-sama, he hoped he did not look guilty. 

Sakuno felt like she was a stereotypical heroine in a badly written shoujo manga. Before, she had planned on politely informing Ryoma that he had mistakenly judged her room to be his, after which she was hoping to have an adult conversation where they would set up some rules due to their unusual living situation. Apparently Ryoma had _cottoned up_ to the fact that he was apparently in her room by himself. Of all potential scenarios, she did not expect that he would find out in such an...unusual and disturbing manner. Why was he not saying anything? Could he not even have the decency to step away or at least close the stupid drawer? She had a feeling that she was going to rupture a blood vessel somewhere from all the blushing that was going on.

"Anou...Echizen-san...What are you doing..?"

The girl had raised an excellent question. What in Hades was he doing? He should step away or at least have the decency to close the damn drawer. Morbidly, his eyes flitted again to her set of panties before meeting her eyes. He tried not look below her neck, something told him that a whole lot of imagining would occur if he started to venture below there. Ryuzaki, in racket spotted underwear. _ Yare yare, not going there Ryoma,_ he strictly imposed on himself.

This was not his fault. He did not even want to come here in the first place. He was supposed to be a renowned and accomplished tennis player by now, skilled and feared by his opponents. He was supposed to climbing up the international tennis rankings, become the second Japanese player in the world to achieve the coveted number 1 status. More importantly, he was supposed to be at home, with his cat meowing in his ear, his mother coddling him and his father haranguing his every move.

Unexpectedly, Ryoma found himself starting to focus his rising anger at Sakuno instead. Who was she to look at him as if he was some common thief? Always acting the part of an innocent, pristine divination, holier than common mortals. She was practically condescending at him right now, blatantly accusing eyes focusing on his every move, practically brandishing her healthy, normal, abled tennis playing body at him. While he, the one with the skills, the knowledge, could not even hold his racket correctly for ten straight minutes without feeling as if someone had taken a bat to him. It was unfair. Life was unfair. The one who wanted to play most could not.

"You don't have to act the part of an outraged old maid, you already look like one," Ryoma coolly inflicted. He calmly shut the now mocking drawer and stepped away from it. "I apologise for coming into your room, I did not realise it was yours. Someone has stupidly misplaced my boxes here. "

Ryoma was angry at her. Sakuno felt like she was watching the scene from outside of her body, the whole scene seemed so dreamlike somehow. One moment she had caught him sneaking glances at her underwear, then suddenly his eyes had turned cold and he had started to speak in that horrible tone. This further cemented something that she knew she could now never ignore. Ryoma did not like and could not have possibly liked her. A memory of a handwritten letter from so long ago flashed through her mind but she resolutely banished it. So this was how it felt to be numb...

"Ah...It's okay Echizen-san. Anyone would have made such a mistake,"

He continued to glare at her.

"Anou...Do you...need help moving your things?"

"Yes," Ryoma grated out.

"Saa... Well, um, I'll just be...um...Where do you want these?" Sakuno pointed to the pile of clothes on the bed.

"In the box,"

She gave him an overly enthusiastic nod and set about with her delegated task. She noticed that her hands were shaking. Calming her jumbled emotions, she slowly folded his clothes and placed them neatly in one of the opened boxes. In a matter of minutes she was done. Ryoma was leaning against the doorframe, the same expression on his face as before. What was she doing wrong?

"Where's my room?"

"Oh...Why don't I show you..?"

She was about to cart the box containing his clothes out of the room when she realized how heavy it was. Helplessly she glanced at Ryoma, who merely cocked an eyebrow at her. _Evil, sadistic, bastard._Drawing on the irritation that came from nowhere, she harnessed it as a source of energy and began dragging and pushing the box to another bare room that was just across hers. She had actually slept in this room the yesterday night as _someone_ had went ahead and claimed her own comfy bed as his own. Although this room was equipped with a reasonably comfortable bed, it was also dusty due to its infrequent usage. She had actually wanted to offer her services to clean his room. That offer had banished along with her mindset of wanting to be nice to him.

She tried walking normally back into her room to drag his other box out but it was as if her arms and legs had grown to heavy proportions, walking seemed to be an awkward feat. Wonderful, not only did Ryoma seem to hate her but she kept turning into the warbling idiot of the east whenever he was around. The day seemed liked it could not get any worse. Sakuno placed her hands on the other box and started to drag it when her head bumped painfully into the desk nearby. She cursed softly and rubbed her head while straightening up, only to find Ryoma suddenly standing very, very close to her. When had he moved?

"Leave that box. I'll move it later,"

"Anou… are you sure you can-"

"Leave it."

"Hai…"

Sakuno began to grow even more nervous. Ryoma was so near, looking down at her with that inscrutable expression of his. She was desperate to move away, but was afraid to accidentally touch him. He really seemed quite demented at the moment; the same intense look from years ago when he was playing against Tezuka-buchou in the mother of all matches. She tried to appear unaffected by all the tension brimming around the room despite the obviousness of it. She realized that she was still mindlessly rubbing at the painful spot on her head only when she felt Ryoma suddenly joining in her ministration. Silently, he began moving and massaging at the now growing bump at her head, his hand somewhat joined with hers while he was doing so.

Outside, the world's inhabitants carried on with life's usual dictations. Distant notes of a piano being played whispered into the house, a daily occurrence as a pianist lived 4 houses away from the Ryuzakis. A cool breeze flickered and teased; the wind chimes in the room softly tinkled their song. From somewhere, a light bump registered through the wooden floor planks, creating a mild vibration.

Everything fell away as Sakuno and Ryoma stared at each other. Pausing now, he gently brought her hand down, eyes never straying from hers. The stinging pain on her head from before had now dulled, Sakuno noted dumbly. The warmth emanating from his hand evoked a familiar curious sensation inside her stomach, a feeling usually derived from whenever Ryoma was around during her days at junior high. Right now though, an older and more mature Ryoma stood before her, holding her hand as his thumb stroked against the skin in an unhurried motion. He opened his mouth and was about to speak, when a sudden cacophony of voices from nearby alerted them. Ryoma immediately dropped her hand and stepped back as the coach came into the room. The person who followed a second after had him narrowing his eyes.

"Buchou…?"

* * *

As Sumire disappeared into the kitchen to make some tea, Tezuka settled himself into the sofa. He had walked into an odd situation just now. Though he harboured no expectations on what it would have been like to meet his former kouhai, he admitted he did not picture Echizen to be glaring at him quite so mutinously. He was still doing it, Tezuka noticed. He stoically met it head on though he was slightly amused by the fierceness of it.Echizen had never dared to show even the slightest hint of disrespect to him before. 

"Buchou," Ryoma grated out. Tezuka did not change his countenance.

"What are you doing here?"

"Sumire-san called me asking for assistance. As she is a much respected friend, I could not reject her plea."

"So…you know then."

"About your hand?"

"Ah,"

Tezuka wordlessly nodded his head. Shame burned throughout Ryoma's entire being. It was pathetic. The former pillar of Seigaku reduced to such a demoralising state. He clenched his useless left hand; it slowly turned red from all the pressure he was inserting. The anger at seeing Buchou unprepared died away into grim reality.

"….The doctor said I can't play anymore. One of the nerves or something, strained too tight and just snapped."

"It is mending though, is it not?"

"Hai… but very slowly. No idea on how long it'll take. Could be months, could be years. No training in the meantime,"

"Why not?"

"Saa…it'll worsen the injury. Doesn't matter, I'm never going to play again anyway."

"Mada mada dane."

Ryoma stilled. Did Buchou just….?

"The Echizen I knew from years before would never let anything as debilitating as a slightly damaged nerve stop him." From his seat, Tezuka leaned forward slightly and spoke again in a more commanding tone.

"Mada mada dane, Echizen."

* * *

Huh. Sakuno never really notice how pristinely clean her ceiling was. Until today. It really was a nice shade of white. Did the colour white even have shades? No matter, hers did. Yep sirree, she was the luckiest girl in the world to have such clean white ceilings. She wondered if Ryoma's new room had such a clean ceiling? She started to giggle. Despite the tight clenching in her heart, she was still able to laugh. That was a good thing wasn't it? 

She began to run through what happened when her grandmother and Teuzka-buchou stepped into the room. They had taken in the awkward tension in the room and exchanged questioning glances at each other. Tezuka asked to speak to Ryoma, and they had both excused themselves to talk in the living room. Grandmother gave her an assessing look, but did not say anything. Perhaps she noticed how close to tears her granddaughter was. Sakuno had smiled tremulously at her and asked for privacy so that she could do some studying.

Some fifty minutes later, Sakuno was lying on her bed, driven by thoughts as insane as ceilings. She was clutching her stuffed cat that was given to her years ago by Tomo-chan. Her neck began to ache again from staring at the ceiling too long. She removed her glasses and placed them on the nearby desk. Lying on her stomach to take the pressure off the back of her neck, she closed her eyes and sighed, slowly sinking into oblivion.

It seemed only seconds later when she felt someone shaking her. Her eyes shot open and she jerked awake. Hazily, she registered that Ryoma was sitting on her bed and speaking to her. "Wha…?"

"We need to talk,"

"Mou…Ryo-, Echizen-san, you're on my bed," Her cheeks began to heat at the implication.

Ryoma merely waved her concerns away, intent on something else entirely.

"We…I…" He trailed off, unsure of how to continue. This was not supposed to be so hard. People did this all the time.

"I'm sorry."

He watched as Sakuno tilted her head. He could see her features more clearly now, no longer obscured by the thick glasses.Since when was she this…attractive?

"What are you sorry for?" she asked confusedly. Somehow, seeing her behaving like a ditz now made him smirk.

"For…being rude. Before."

"Souka…" Sakuno nodded her head, and looked away from him. Was that it?

He held out his hand to her.

"Friends?"

She froze for a moment. As the seconds ticked by, Ryoma began to feel slightly irked as she did nothing to acknowledge his peaceful gesture. He was about to snap at her when he felt her dainty fingers enveloping his.

"Friends."

* * *

**I had time.**

**Okay, I could not sleep and this was bugging me.**


	6. Chapter 6

** Obvious nyah! **

**NOTE: The events in this chapter occurs in a day. When reading, keep track of the timings, have jumped or turned back time in order to accomodate the storytelling. Well, gee, I hope that made sense. **

* * *

_She froze for a moment. As the seconds ticked by, Ryoma began to feel slightly irked as she did nothing to acknowledge his peaceful gesture. He was about to snap at her when he felt her dainty fingers enveloping his._

"_Friends."_

* * *

** 3.57 pm**

It had been a most unusual day. Naturally, Sakuno had predicted that today would be more unusual than others. She had even prepared herself by creating a chart of possible scenarios complete with appropriate solutions to each and every predicament. In dire times such as these, she had even woken earlier than usual and made an emergency kit consisting of a first aid and sewing kit, an ample amount of food rations, an extra set of uniform, ear plugs, a wig, and a notebook to write her will in. Well, this was moot considering she had about 16000 yen in her bank account, but at least she would see that it went safely to her grandmother. This however, she did not expect.

"Oi. I'm hungry."

Sakuno huddled her stash protectively to her chest. She gave Ryoma a sidelong glance and proceeded to ignore him. This wall as his fault anyway, she thought waspishly.

"Stop growling at me. This isn't my fault."

Hah!**Everything** was Ryoma's fault.

"How was I supposed to know you never even mentioned I was back? I think it would be pretty obvious soon enough. Did you assume I would hide in a cave?"

She grudgingly acknowledged his logic. Still, he could have handled the situation a _tad _more delicately.

"Ryuzaki. Give.Me.Food."

Ryoma received a Kit-Kat bar thrown to his head.

* * *

**7.45 am**

When Ryoma woke, it was to a feeling of complete discombobulation. The day of retribution, or in this case, the first day of school, had finally arrived. He was looking forward to meeting the familiar faces and his old teammates just as much as Karupin loved getting her fur sopping wet. Laying an arm over his closed eyes, he calmly breathed in and tried to compose his errant thoughts. It was very likely that everyone would wonder why in the world he was in Japan. As he was fiercely secretive of the fact that he was injured, he gathered that the first thing to do was to conjure a valid reason as to why he was back.

As the minutes ticked by however, Ryoma found his waning imagination to be a great deal of grievance. Heck, he would never come back to Japan if given the choice. What in the world could possibly make him want to come here? For one thing, his cat was not here. And despite his outwardly unaffected appearance, Ryoma really, really loved his cat. In fact, he was starting to grow even more melancholy thinking about Karupin. Just as he was starting to feel like a shmuck for missing his feline companion so much, an idea hit him.

He would probably get punished by kami-sama for this idea, but he was sure Ryuzaki would not even notice.

* * *

**9.05 am**

When the sound of girls squealing flitted through the halls of Seishun Gakuen High, Sakuno made sure to bury her head completely in her maths textbook. Beside her, Tomoka halted her sentence halfway, her eyes narrowing in speculation. "Ne Sakuno, are you all right?" Sakuno paid her no heed. Tomoka barely noticed the commotion that seemed to be heading nearer to their classroom. Instead, she leaned in nearer to Sakuno to see as to what was so engrossing.

"Is this one of those hentai magazines you're hiding in between?"

"Tomo-chan!" Sakuno gasped out, scandalized.

"What? It's okay, I read them too. My brothers leave them lying around."

"Tomo-chan!"

Tomoka laughed. Seriously, Sakuno was just too easy sometimes. She was about to indulge in a more explicit description of what she saw in those magazines when a breathless Horio came barrelling into the classroom. "It's true!" He managed to choke out between gasping breaths. "He's BACK!" He promptly swooned and was caught by an equally flustered classmate behind him.

Tomoka merely raised an eyebrow at his antics. When an earsplitting shriek outside their classroom however, she began to feel her annoyance rising. Really, what was with the girls in this school? She was about to make a comment to Sakuno about their lesser sound schoolmates when the door slid open and Echizen Ryoma stepped in. Wait, Ryoma?!

The classroom stilled.

* * *

**10.15 am**

Of course the fates had intervened, which was how a detached, slightly sullen Ryoma was found to be sitting next to Sakuno. Naturally, they had not spoken a word to each other ever since the first period sensei had walked in to conduct class. After a slight introduction of the new student, (as if there were still people in Japan who didn't know who Ryoma was) he had settled in to teach, despite the light murmuring reverberating throughout the classroom.

Sakuno was glad for this, as it prevented any sort of interaction between her and Tomoka, who she could feel was boring holes into her back. She subtly turned her head behind to check on her psychotic but endearing best friend. Yep, still glaring. Sakuno nervously fidgeted, readjusting the frames of her glasses. She had expected Tomoka to be possibly annoyed at her, but this was slowly heading into dangerous territory. Tomoka could hold a grudge like no other person. Perhaps she should have feinted some sort of sickness today…

For what seemed like the millionth time, Ryoma heard Ryuzaki sigh. Again. Really, was he that horrible to be around? Ever since that night in her room when they had shaken hands, he thought that they had become more comfortable with each other. He was certainly more at ease with her now; due to their forced close proximity. They could hold a civilized conversation, careful not to delve into anything personal. It was certainly a change from their childhood days, when she would merely stammer her way around him.

From the corner of his eye, he peeked at her. She was doodling on a piece of paper, pushing back her glasses every once in a while when it threatened to fall from her face. Heh. She was actually…cute. In a ditzy, bookish, Ryuzaki way. He rubbed at his neck unconsciously; he had suddenly experienced a curious warm sensation in his stomach.

From behind him, he heard a gasp. He turned to find…Tomoka? Who was pointing at him then at Ryuzaki, her mouth moving soundlessly. A loud harrumph brought everyone's attention to the front of the class however, to a sensei who was displeased to have the attention shifted to someone else.

* * *

**12.18 am**

It must be hard being famous, Sakuno absently thought. It was just 3 minutes into their lunch period and already Ryoma had a fan club and legions of admirers. About 30 or so of them were now surrounding him at his desk, 70 percent of them being girls all desperately vying for the prince of tennis' attention. She was quietly amused to see that he seemed extremely impassive to it all. He barely answered questions, and spoke only when required. Meanwhile, Horio was bragging to everyone about how he and Ryoma were 'best friends', and how they had played tennis together.

"So. This was the big secret?"

Tomoka was speaking to her! "Tomo-chan….I'm really-"

"I can understand you wanting to keep it a secret. I know you really liked Ryoma, maybe you wanted to keep him to yourself for a while.I know I would be tempted to,"

"Eh?!"

"To be honest, I was really angry before, but after thinking it through, I realized that, you really couldn't help it. I mean, look at Ryoma! Goodness, I hope you kids had a good time you know."

"Eh?! No, Tomo-Chan, I-"

"Anyway, what I wanted to say was, I forgive you. There. I said it."

Sakuno could only shake her head incredulously. She was about to straighten out Tomoka's ridiculous assumption when a deafening silence finally registered with her senses. About 50 pairs of eyes, most of which were feminine and decidedly hostile, were centred on her.

"You came back because you missed Sakuno?!" Horio finally spluttered out.

* * *

**4.15 pm, Present Time**

Due to the mild rampage that had started after what Ryoma had stupidly assumed was an innocent declaration, they had both found themselves being chased by angry fangirls and were now huddled behind a dusty bookshelf in the library. For what was now the past 3 hours, according to his watch. Ryoma could tell that Ryuzaki was still seething at him, she had been quiet all the while but her shaking hands were a clear telltale sign.

He was actually stumped by all the commotion. Japanese girls were definitely a different breed from the girls he had encountered in America. He had no idea that they could flicker from sugary sweetness to borderline psychotic so easily. He would have to ponder this some other time. Presently, the old coach's granddaughter was giving him the silent treatment, which was surprisingly causing him to feel an inordinate amount of guilt.

"Ryuzaki."

No response.

"Ryuzaki."

A slight twitch to her eyebrows, but other than that, she resolutely ignored him.

"Your hair is too long."

That finally got a response. Eyes blazing dangerously, she was obviously about to blast him but froze in shock when Ryoma pressed his palm on her lips, quelling any chance she had to speak.

"I had no choice Ryuzaki. No let me talk," Ryoma persisted when Sakuno made a muffled protest. She quieted down, albeit in a very grudging manner.

"I…don't want to tell them. About my arm. If they knew…If everybody knew. They'd never forgive me..." He whispered, looking away from her.

"You were the only reason I could think of. About why I was back. I apologise for the absurdity of it. I…I was just...I'm just sorry." He finally turned back to look at her, only to find her head slightly bowed, auburn bangs obscuring her face. Feeling slightly alarmed, he lowered his hand from where it was covering her mouth. "Ryuzaki..?"

His alarm spiked even further when he noticed that tears were trailing down her cheeks. He actually scooted back slightly when she made a movement, only to take off her glasses and wipe at her eyes. When she raised her head to look at him, he was stupefied to see teary brown eyes making contact with his own.

"Ryoma…" She choked out.

He stopped breathing altogether when she launched herself at him, arms wrapping themselves around his neck while she cried.

* * *

**Wrote the whole chunk in a night. Would love to hear your thoughts on this one. Had a bit of trouble with Ryoma and Sakuno, I wanted them to subtly grow without making it ooc. I hate it when that happens, you know,when Ryoma suddenly has an epiphany and realizes that Sakuno is his One True Luv. **

**Man, I gotta pee. **


	7. Chapter 7

**Some background information on Coming Round:**

**According to the manga, Ryoma left Japan when he was 12 to pursue his tennis further in America. For Coming Round, I am assuming that Ryoma did not come back to rejoin the regulars for the Nationals. Instead, he rejoins the scene when he is 17.**

**I have had some questions about the regulars. Did some research on the Japanese schooling system, in which high school is within the ages of 16-18. According to this, only Momo and Kaidoh would be in the same school as Ryoma.The rest of the regulars would likely be in university. As to whether they'll be making appearances, I'm not sure at the moment.I don't want to crash the story with too many characters, but Momo and Kaidoh will be slinking in every once in a while. **

**That being said, this is basically a RyoSaku centred story. It starts and ends with them. I think it's going to be slow, still working out kinks, but I think stories with a slow build-up are always worth it in the end, ne?**

* * *

_His alarm spiked even further when he noticed that tears were trailing down her cheeks. He actually scooted back slightly when she made a movement, only to take off her glasses and wipe at her eyes. When she raised her head to look at him, he was stupefied to see teary brown eyes making contact with his own._

"_Ryoma…" She choked out._

_He stopped breathing altogether when she launched herself at him, arms wrapping themselves around his neck while she cried._

* * *

Ryuzaki could sure cry a lot, Ryoma thought. Even though her tears had soaked through his left shoulder, he had a feeling that she still had a long way to go. At this rate, he hoped he didn't end up with a dried prune clinging to him. Again, he awkwardly patted her shoulder as how one would when touching a rabid animal. Girls could be really mental sometimes. When his senses had finally deigned to pick up that there was an actual girl hugging him, his first impulse was to shove her away. Which he did, albeit gently of course. He would have succeeded in freeing himself except that Ryuzaki had merely strengthened her hold on him while making piteous mewling sounds. How was he supposed to push _that_ away? 

Instead, Ryoma found himself trying to quietly comfort her while praying that nobody would walk in and witness such an embarrassing scene. If the old coach caught wind of such an event, he would count himself lucky if he could still reproduce in future. He peeped down at her. All he could make out were her braids, though they were now mussed up from all the running they had done to evade his fans. Naturally, he was a gifted runner but with Ryuzaki tagging along on his arm, he couldn't run with his usual speed. Kami-sama, he thought he was done for when an overzealous fan nearly trampled him down. He shuddered at the thought.

This was a wrong move apparently as the movement caused Ryuzaki to shift from crying into his shoulder to burying herself in his neck instead. If he was his father, he would see this as the best opportunity to wring his way into Ryuzaki's pants. Luckily, he had nerves made of steel and was a righteous young man, well versed in propriety. His mother had seen to that. Yep, those nerves of steel were working all right.

And maybe if he kept repeating that mantra over and over again, his body would fall for it hook, line and sinker. As it was, he had pleasurable sensations that he had no right to feel owing to the fact that it was elicited by the coach's granddaughter. He felt like he was one giant hormone, highly on edge and waiting to explode. Did Ryuzaki know nothing about teenage boys? What the heck was wrong with her? As he felt her soft breaths wafting down his neck, he gave up breathing and tried to kill himself through loss of air. With any luck, it would be over in about 15 to 20 minutes. This would have been successful, if he was not a giant lump of hormone that was easily distracted by hair of the female variety.

Ryuzaki had a lot of hair. All shiny and brown, with beguiling long tendrils that had loosened from her braids. Perhaps he was slightly deranged due to the decrease of air intake but Ryoma had the most compelling urge to investigate what her hair smelled like. He battled the urge for about two seconds. Then, hoping she didn't notice, he tentatively bent down to take a sniff and was warmed by the heady scent of strawberries. Arrested by it, he bent his head further and took in a deeper breath. So involved was he in the act that he failed to notice the stiffening of Sakuno's small build.

"Anou...Ryoma...?" Sakuno whispered falteringly.

"Hm..?"

"Are you...smelling my hair?"

"Hm..."

"You're...you...you're smelling my hair…"

It was at this point when Sakuno angled her head backwards to give him a dumbfounded look that he realized what he had been caught doing. Ryoma was divided between two choices. To pretend that he knew nothing, or to trick himself into knowing nothing.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Ryoma mumbled, all the while wishing desperately for a cap to cover his eyes and alarmingly heated face.

"You were! I felt it!" Sakuno persisted.

"I was...finding bugs." If there was a hole somewhere, Ryoma would have given anything to crawl inside it and die. Bugs?

"You were finding bugs?" She parroted dumbly.

Ryuzaki was giving him a Look, one that his mother had perfected and presented to his father whenever she thought he was an idiot. That was when it clicked into his brain.

"You called me Ryoma." He stated.

That really was an interesting shade of red on Ryuzaki. He watched a myriad of expressions play across her features before she finally settled on indignation.

"Tha...that...that's not the...don't change the subject!" To stress on this, she resolved to poke at his chest. He wondered whether he should return the favour. Perhaps another time.

"You said, 'Ryoma...' And then," He paused ominously. "You molested me." Why this would give him a strange sense of happiness, he refused to ponder. All that was important at that moment was to keep that attractive shade of red on Ryuzaki.

"I did not molest you!"

"You're on my lap." Ryoma calmly pointed out.

Confusion gave way to pure horror. She scuttled off his lap and curled herself into a ball at the furthest end of the corner where they were hiding, clearly trying to make herself invisible. He heard her muttering to herself, probably throwing thinly veiled obscenities his way and he inwardly smiled. Stretching out his legs, he asked her a question he had been wondering about for the past 30 minutes.

"Ryuzaki." He said without looking at her. He heard a muffled sound from her corner.

"Why were you crying?"

* * *

Sakuno was beyond mortified. She had practically raped Ryoma. Disgust and humiliation welled to such huge proportions inside of her that it took a few minutes for Ryoma's question to finally sink in. Why had she cried? It seemed absurd, now that she had a clear head to think with. But then she recalled Ryoma's face when he pleaded with her to not tell anyone about his secret. Ryoma _pleaded_ with her. 

It had caused such a chain reaction on her emotions, knowing that Echizen Ryoma, the proud cocky tennis player of her dreams was so worried about upsetting his former team-mates, that he was actually _pleading _with her. He would kill her if he knew she cried because she felt so badly hurt for him. Hurt because no matter what, he was Seigaku's pillar and upholding that responsibility was probably draining him inside.

When he repeated his question she kept mum, knowing that he would not appreciate her answer. Likely, he would construct it as pity which was the last thing that she felt concerning him. In truth, all she wanted to do was to mother him silly and keep him safe, away from prying questions and burdening responsibilities so he could just _heal,_ damnit.

Oh no. Was he actually coming closer? She curled into a tighter ball and visualised herself in her room, all alone. The illusion was momentarily shaken when she felt his fingers curling into her own, but she merely shut her eyes and ignored him. Ryoma was adamant that she pay attention to him however, because he scooted nearer and settled himself more firmly beside her. Sakuno shivered from the warmth gained from the close contact of his body but refused to lift her face, frightened of what she would see if she looked at him. She made a tiny moue of frustration.

Everything crumpled to dust when Ryoma brought out a most effective weapon. A strange sense of awareness suddenly creeped over her. Without seeing him, she could actually feel Ryoma leaning into her, invading her already diminishing personal space. Soft strands of his hair were brushing across her arm, his fingers clutched hers tighter. Softly, he spoke.

"Sakuno..."

Stunned, her eyes immediately met his. Ryoma stoically looked back at her. How he managed to show no emotion while holding her hand, she had no idea. More importantly, he had said her name. Why would he do that? Why would he hold her hand? And why was he moving closer? Something was screaming at Sakuno from all directions but she batted it all away with an imaginary hand.

Sakuno closed her eyes and let whatever it was that would happen, to happen. Kami-sama then chose the strangest time to intervene.

"Echizen?!" Two voices merged out simultaneously.

Momo-senpai and Kaido-senpai had finally heard that their kouhai was back. Sakuno could have sworn she heard a growl from Ryoma.

* * *

He wished the mamushi would desist with the hissing. Would he never grow out of that phase? Momoshiro was very tempted to smack the stuffing out of Kaido, buchou or not. The importance of presenting a united front in front of Echizen was the only thing that prevented him from doing so. Kuso, it would do the mamushi good to shut up though. As it was, Echizen was looking at them like they were all strangers. 

"So," He tried again, while glaring at Kaido. "When did you arrive?"

"Nearly a month ago." Echizen's curt response sure was encouraging, Momo thought sarcastically.

He nodded at Kaido to ask the next question. The mamushi just gave an irritated grunt and folded his arms while looking elsewhere. Momo glowered at Kaido, giving him all sorts of inspiring names in his head. When there was still no response, he rolled up his right sleeve and was about to knock some sense into the current buchou when Ryoma interrupted the beginnings of what would have been a very interesting fight.

"Are we done?" Ryoma intoned.

"No!" Both Momo and Kaido jumped out of their seats while shooting intimidating looks at the younger man in front of them. It did not work a whit as Ryoma merely raised an eyebrow at their antics and slouched further in his seat. The bored air emanating from Ryoma finally pushed Kaido over the edge.

"Why didn't you tell us?"

Ryoma tapped his fingers on his knee and looked at his watch pointedly.

"Why didn't you tell us about your injur-"

"Kaido!"

The comment finally caught Ryoma's attention. When he first saw them, he had at first felt a comforting sense of familiarity.Finally, he had thought. People he liked. He mistakenly thought that they would like slide into an easy camaraderie, fostered by the strong bonds that they had shared. Once he had tuned in to their nervousness around him though, he had stopped himself from reaching out. Now he knew why.

So it had all come down to this. How could they have known? The old coach would never tell. So would Tezuka-buchou. Despite being an idiot, his father would also never betray him in such a confidential matter. His mind narrowed on the one person who could have spilled it out.

Ryuzaki Sakuno.

* * *

**Uh. Oh. **

**Actually I was stuck at the first paragraph. Ryoma would not cooperate, so I had to wheedle him into it. I realize he might be a tad ooc, but I fault it on his hormones.Or more accurately, his huge lump of hormone.**

**Did anyone else catch that double entendre? **

* * *


	8. Chapter 8

**it doesn't belong to me**

* * *

_So it had all come down to this. How could they have known? The old coach would never tell. So would Tezuka-buchou. Despite being an idiot, his father would also never betray him in such a confidential matter. His mind narrowed on the one person who could have spilled it out._

_Ryuzaki Sakuno._

* * *

Hm. This was interesting, Tomoka thought. If anyone looked closely enough, there were actual dark clouds looming above Ryoma-kun's head, complete with flashes of lightning, torrential rain and all. And if one paid even more attention, traces of booming thunder could be heard. Oooh, this was terribly delicious. All that tension, centred on her best friend if her predictions were correct. And given they way that he was clutching his pencil while sending off a frightening aura towards Sakuno, Tomoka was sure that her best friend was in for a _very_ good time tonight. Snicker, snicker.

Of course, Sakuno was terribly innocent when it came to intimate behaviour. That guileless naiveté attracted species of the male variety in hordes, if only she bothered to notice. Naturally, Tomoka had beaten them off with her fists and Horio had 'aided' by bragging that he had two years of boxing experience. And if that did not work, Momo-senpai and Kau-, ahem, Kaido buchou were around to help. No way were they letting Sakuno fall into the sweaty hands of some perverse teenage boy.

Except for Ryoma-kun of course. That was inevitable; kami-sama knew how long all of them had waited for this. She hoped Ryoma-kun had enough sense to not muck it up this time, that lovable brat. If he made Sakuno cry by leaving one more time, Tomoka would squish more than his tennis balls.

* * *

Ryoma would have been clutching Ryuzaki's deceitful neck if he had not been waylaid by a glomping Momo-senpai. It was the end of the school day and he had been about to demand an explanation from her when he had been dragged by the collar. Of course, he knew it was Momo, who else dared to give him a noogie while making baby noises? This strangely mollified him somewhat; he had missed this old familiarity. Not that Momo-senpai needed to know that.

"Get off me," He growled, though both of them knew he did not mean it. He was squished further into Momo's armpit instead.

"Ehhh, think you're all grown up eh? Keh, no matter how tall or old you are you're always 'Ochibi' first!" Momo punctuated this absurd statement by ruffling Ryoma's already messed up hair.

"Dammit Momo-senpai!" Both of them grappled with each other, knocking into students who had the unfortunate sense to not stay away. Yelps and muffled laughter drifted out from the pair. It was a strange sort of bonding ritual for two people who had not met each other for years. Kaido looked at them from his leaning stance on a nearby wall. If the two of them didn't break up the fuzzy moment, he was going to start hugging people. He really had to get rid of his inner softie.

"Ahou. We're going to be late."

"Mamushi-buchou! I told you not to sneak up on people,"

"What did you call me?!"

"...Mada mada dane."

* * *

What the hell was Tezuka-buchou's problem? For the past half hour where he had been trapped in the booth, the man had not stopped staring. All around him, his old team members were yakking away. But no, not the great Buchou. He had to tap his fingers on the table while glaring at his youngest kouhai. Ryoma glared back, determined to come out the winner.

Of course, he had expected this gathering of some of Seigaku's greatest tennis players. The whole gang was here, except for Kikumaru-senpai and Fuji-senpai who had gone to order drinks for them all. Oishii-senpai and Momo-senpai were in a heated debate over what was considered an acceptable punishment for coming late to tennis practice. Momo-senpai was arguing strongly that a smack at the back of the head was all it took. Naturally the soft-hearted Oishii senpai claimed that running twenty laps was more than enough.

Kawamura-senpai and Inui-senpai were both clucking over the current Seigaku captain's well developed muscles. There was a slight flush on Kaido-senpai's cheeks, seemingly embarrassed by all the attention. Tezuka-buchou on the other hand, was quietly sipping his tea (where did that come from?), not at all bothered by the conversations around him. He tilted his head as he stared harder at Ryoma, who was considerably wary as to what was going on inside his head. Ryoma was mildly tempted to throw something at him, just to see if Tezuka-buchou was capable of producing emotions.

"You are well?"

Wow. Tezuka-buchou was finally speaking. Although, it sounded like he was commanding instead of the politely phrased question that it was. "Ah..." Ryoma muttered, eyes finally shifting away.

"Have you been practicing?"

"Practicing what?" Ryoma cautiously replied. There was no answer from Tezuka, whose eyes sharpened further in response.

"Ahou. Tennis of course," Kaido said. He had been listening in ever since Tezuka had started talking. So had the rest of them actually.

Ryoma's anger spiked up. Kuso, he did not need this on top of everything else. What was he, some kind of infant that everyone had to keep asking him such questions? Enough was enough. He rose up, all prepared to walk out of the restaurant. If it were not for Fuji-senpai's restraining hand against his shoulder, he would have been stampeding his way across town by now. "Echizen...we are all worried. Forgive us if we seem too upfront about it."

His eyes were suddenly stinging. If he came back all the way here just to bawl like Horio in front of his senpais he would kill himself.

With all eyes centered on him, he shrugged off his senpai's hand while giving him a warning glare. With a credible amount of grudge, he sat down. Collective sighs of relief were heard all around the table.

"Saa," Fuji-senpai continued. "How about a ponta then?"

* * *

"…But I do! I do love you-"

Click.

"…5 percent chance of rain in the easter-"

Click.

"…test if these are rea-"

Click.

"…sensei, you are alwa-"

Click.

"…Oh I love you to-"

With a last audible click, Sakuno switched off the television set with the remote. She was horribly tired, yet she was so wired from the day's events that she couldn't fall asleep. Oh dear, she thought. It wouldn't do to recall today. Cheeks flushing, she buried her face against a nearby cushion and tried to dispel the less than innocent images. Okay, so they were fairly graphic images if she were being truthful. Sakuno never knew that she was such a perverted individual. Of course, she knew about the birds and the bees, how could she not when she had Tomoka as a friend? Still, she had never given much thought about it until…until…

"Mou…" Sakuno muffled through the cushion. She was so confused by Ryoma. And the pathetic truth was, she had no past romantic experiences to carve out an explanation from. Ryoma was Ryoma, noone else she knew behaved the same infuriating way that he did. Being 17 now, perhaps his male tendencies had finally caught up with him thus resulting in this sudden oddness. Who would believe that Ryoma would ever get that close to a girl? To whisper softly to her? To hold her hand?

Sakuno told herself to calm down. There should be a logical explanation for all the recent events; it would be prudent to not jump to conclusions. After all, from what she knew, he didn't even like her. She had to remember that, to forget would mean a disaster. Yosh! It was settled then!

"What are you doing?"

Sakuno had been pumping her fist in the air, while lying on the couch, her face pressed against the cushion. Was it always going to be like this kami-sama? Would she always be doomed to have Ryoma walking in on her embarrassing moments? She lay quietly, pretending that she hadn't heard his voice. If life was fair, she would slowly dissolve into air at this moment.

"Ryuzaki."

Well, fine then. Sakuno sat up and stared at a pair of sneakers, not daring to venture above there. She hoped she was still not giving off an impression of a tomato, though it was likely a futile hope. There was a sudden awkward pause in the room when none of them spoke, each waiting for the other to begin first.

"Your hair…"

Her hair?

"It's loose…"

Oh. "I just washed it. It hadn't dried then. I'll tie it up, if it bothers you."

"It doesn't. You just look different,"

"Ah...Souka..."

Different? That meant she looked horrible right? Sakuno began to fidget with the material of her pyjama bottoms, growing increasingly uncomfortable with the situation. Of all nights for her grandmother to be working late, she just had to pick tonight.

"So," Sakuno said haltingly. "Was there anything you needed?" She pasted a bright smile on her face, finally braving to look at him. It was of no surprise to her that he was wearing an unreadable expression, she was used to it.

"You look better without glasses."

She looked better without glasses. Ryoma said she looked better without glasses. She looked better.

"But your hair is still too long,"

Enough. "What do you want?"

He raised an eyebrow at her change of tone. Sakuno was very protective of her hair, not even the great Ryoma could get away with insulting it.

"Well?" She further stressed when he continued to present a condescending front towards her. His mouth twitched slightly, but other than that his expression did not waver. Instead, he slouched further in his seat. One might think that he looked relaxed, if not for the burning gaze of his eyes.

"You're really lucky you know."

Sakuno did not know how to reply to such a statement so she merely kept mum. Better for him to let it all out first, lessening her chances of saying something idiotic.

"I met all the ex-regulars today."

She meekly nodded, careful not to make any sudden movements.

"Apparently, Tezuka-buchou told everyone about me. And about my arm." He looked at her meaningfully, as if she was supposed to catch on to the implication behind his words. When she gave no indication of such an understanding, he gave a loud huff and continued.

"I was…upset at first. Nobody was supposed to know. Though it was stupid of me not to expect Tezuka-buchou to tell everyone, being the former captain and all…" He looked lost for a moment, presumably recalling the glory days of Seigaku's past. Sakuno understood. She would always remember the excitement of being a supporter at all those matches, when school spirit for her was at an all time high. Funny how it disappeared when Ryoma left.

"Anyway," He said, picking up from where he had stopped. "I thought you went ahead and told everyone about…my arm."

Sakuno was between wanting to cry or to laugh madly at his lack of faith in her. Of all the asinine ideas, he thought that she would pass around such private information like it was gossip fodder?

"I was really angry at Ryuzaki. But after thinking it through I realized-"

"Don't worry." She blithely cut in. Sakuno did not want to know what else he thought of her.

"I didn't tell anyone about your injury."

_"Just like I didn't tell anyone about your letter."_

* * *

**I got bored and updated. So..yay?**


	9. Chapter 9

**it belongs to all**

* * *

_"Just like I didn't tell anyone about your letter."_

* * *

As soon as the words were out, Sakuno knew that she had made mistake. The widening of Ryoma's eyes and his clenching jaw attested to that. Both of them fell silent.

"Well," Sakuno started. "I'm going to bed now."She started to move slowly towards the staircase, careful not to make any eye contact.

"If you see Oba-san, please tell he-Umpf! " Her words ended on a muffled squeak as Ryoma suddenly pounced and slammed her into a nearby wall. He looked murderous, and Sakuno was frankly the most frightened she had ever been in her life. She squirmed frantically in his arms, desperate to get away from him. As if she were the lightest snowflake, he merely shifted both her wrists behind her back, holding her securely with one arm while the other took hold of her chin. She was panting slightly from all the physical exertion. When Ryoma's eyes shifted to her lips, she forced herself to stop breathing, feminine intuition taking over. His face turned even colder, if such a feat were possible.

"Did you read the letter?" Though the tone of his voice was soft, Sakuno recognized the anger simmering hotly behind it.

"Read what?" Safer to feign ignorance, she thought.

"Answer me Sakuno," Again, with the 'Sakuno' name calling. She felt slightly churlish at his casualness of using her first name whenever he felt like it. She glared at him instead of answering. Wrong move apparently.

"Why are you being so difficult?" Confusion and an edge of anger crept into his voice, threatening to break through the fragile grip he had over his volatile feelings. Ryoma had never had such a strong impulse to maim someone. And it was a slip of a girl at that! He never, ever, lost his cool, not even at critical tennis matches. Sakuno only had to mention something stupid and he felt like shaking her. Presently, said mere slip of a girl was struggling to free herself, still not answering him.

Something in Ryoma snapped. His moral and sense of propriety that was carefully ingrained from his mother must have gone on a holiday at some point. Either that, or Momo-senpai had spiked a major drug in his beverage when he wasn't looking.

Because at that moment, Echizen Ryoma was kissing a girl, consequences be damned.

* * *

It was not like it was unexpected. Though he pretended to be unaware, he had for ages known about the betting pool going around his former teammates. Most had predicted that the inevitable would have occurred before Ryoma left. Only Inui had prophesized that there was no chance in hell that it would happen. He had secretly agreed with Inui. Fuji, the devil incarnate that he was, placed his bets on when they would turn 17. His reasoning being that '17 is the season when a young man succumbs to his lustful nature.' Kami-sama have mercy on Fuji's intended lady.

Still, he was not exactly agreeable to the sight of his kouhai furiously exchanging spit with his former coach's granddaughter. What was even more alarming was the faint mewling sounds of arousal being emitted from the girl. Tezuka was tempted to gouge his eyes and feed it to himself. Instead, he cleared his voice loudly and gave off an air of authority. The slight stiffening of Ryoma's build told him that he was aware of Tezuka's presence.

Murmuring softly to Sakuno, he turned to face Tezuka while pushing Sakuno out of sight beside him. To say that Tezuka was not amused by the brazen attitude looming off from Ryoma would not be accurate. He wanted to howl with laughter actually. Alas, he was already committed to his role as the 'serious, stoic tennis captain of Seigaku'. He had an odd feeling that Fuji would give up his cameras to be in the room right now though.

"Is Sumire-san at home? I was told to meet her at 8," He said calmly, as if minutes ago he wasn't a spectator to teenage mating habits.

"Ah...She will arrive a bit later. She had to do some private training," A soft feminine voice mumbled miserably from behind Ryoma. Tezuka raised his eyebrow at Ryoma upon hearing the exclamation. His once apathetic kouhai gave a careless shrug before his face split into a roguish grin.

"Saa...I will await her presence then." And with that resolute statement, Tezuka crossed over to a sofa and sat. If Fuji was here, he would slyly impart on the sadistic nature of Tezuka Kunimitsu. As it was, Tezuka gave no impression of leaving but instead stared at the pair in a detached manner, waiting for their next move.

Sakuno gave in to her skittish impulses first. She sputtered out apologies and what not and scattered away before Ryoma had the chance to grab at her. Ryoma looked slightly mutinous at her disappearance, but he made no move to go after her. Instead, he gave a hollow sigh and sat across his captain. Tezuka's eyes followed his every move.

"You weren't really here to see the old coach, were you? " Ryoma asked.

"No." Tezuka did not explain further.

"You're here to see me." Ryoma said, almost to himself.

"Perhaps."

A strained silence ensued. Ryoma was the first to break it.

"I won't let you embarrass her."

"I have no intention of doing so, Echizen."

A litany of crickets filled in the gap of their conversation. Ryoma fought the urge to squirm. Tezuka fought the urge to laugh. Alas, he did come for a reason and time was wasting enough as it was.

"Your first visit with Sano-sensei is tomorrow. I believe Sumire-san has told you about this?"

"…Ah"

"I was asked by your father to accompany you," Ryoma began to splutter at this point. " I will meet you in front of the hospital 30 minutes before the examination. Are you prepared yet?"

"Oyaji actually contact-"

"Will you be bringing her?" Tezuka cut in.

Ryoma looked at his captain warily, not liking where this was heading. He chose not to answer instead.

"Bring Sakuno."

And with that, the conversation ended.

* * *

Sakuno watched from her bedroom window as Tezuka-buchou left the house. Words were exchanged between him and Ryoma, though she could not hear what they were. Her face began to flame as she thought about the scene that he had walked into. If Oba-san ever caught wind of it, she would likely be locked up in her room until she was 30. Groaning miserably, she hid her face behind her palms.

"Sakuno?"

The source of all her problems lately stood in her room, as if he had every right to be there. If only trouble was not so good looking.

"Look…we need to ta-"

"No! Can't we just forget it ever happened? I swear, I won't tell anyone, I really won't!" Kami-sama, she was starting to babble now.

Ryoma frowned at her, starting to get slightly annoyed. Really, what would it take for him to finish a sentence nowadays? He began again, albeit more slowly. "But I really think tha-"

"I know, it was a mistake. Please….just, let it go." Sakuno did not dare look at Ryoma. He in turn, said nothing after that. And when Ryoma closed the door soundlessly behind him, her heart broke all over again, just like that time 5 years ago when he left.

* * *

I am actually in the middle of exams. Just shows where my priorities lie.

Man, I am damned.

**notes: Sano-sensei - the doctor mentioned in previous chapters**


	10. Chapter 10

**dont own it.**

* * *

_"I know, it was a mistake. Please….just let it go." Sakuno did not dare look at Ryoma. He in turn, said nothing after that. And when Ryoma closed the door soundlessly behind him, her heart broke all over again, just like that time 5 years ago when he left._

* * *

It would have been a fairly routine day if not for the most entertaining group of people sitting in front of her. Ayu had started out her day of nursing late actually, though her lack of promptness went unnoticed due to the mild uproar behind the registration counter. She wagered on a movie star or some sort, in for a day of 'wellness' at their private hospital. Such events were hardly uncommon here. She had raised an eyebrow at the tittering females, all giggly and swooning. You would think that they were interns instead of the veterans that they were. She did start foaming at her orifices when she saw the two absurdly good looking males. There _they_ were, with a plain girl between them, emitting a dangerous aura all around.

The younger of two, with his dishevelled hair and golden eyes was glaring at almost everyone around him, seemingly uncomfortable with the attention they were receiving. He looked faintly familiar to Ayu, though she could not piece together who he was at the moment. No, Ayu was more interested in the older one. With glasses adorned on an almost feminine face, if not for the cold eyes that looked stoically straight on. She would bet big, big money than she was in the presence of gods. Strange though, that gods came with such plain baggage. Bespectacled Plain Jane was sitting between them, almost unnoticeable with her pigtails and messy bangs. She kept fidgeting with her skirt, creating more creases on something that was already rumpled to begin with.

After a bite of gossip from the other nurses, Ayu had discerned that they had an appointment with Sano-sensei, though none of them knew for what purpose.They had arrived a mere 5 minutes before, and had jumpstarted the hearts of the octogenarian female nursing staff. As the day went on , and Sano-sensei had still not arrived after an hour however, Ayu was ready to scream from all the teeth grinding and dark look that the handsome pair was shooting at them. Gods or not, it was hardly their fault that their no holds barred Sano-sensei was a maverick who did as he pleased.

All heads immediately turned when the automatic sliding doors opened to emit a bedraggled Sano-sensei, nearly two hours late for his appointment. Bobbing his head to an invisible beat, he comically waved his hands at everyone and barked out that the next patient be in his office. Ayu sweat dropped at his almost blasé' introduction. She fearfully mumbled to Plain Jane and the Gods that they could enter Sano-sensei's office. Everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief once the doors to his office finally closed.

* * *

It was hard to determine who felt most uncomfortable, though Sakuno was positive that it was her. After her worst ever visit to a clinic, Tezuka-buchou had suggested that they have lunch first before returning home. Once they were in the restaurant however, Tezuka-buchou suddenly claimed to have mysterious 'stuff' to handle and disappeared before she could ask what it was.

Which left her and Ryoma. In a restaurant. Together.

Sakuno was reading the menu religiously for what was the fifth time, too much a coward to look at him. The silence was almost painful, occasionally punctured by the other patrons of the restaurant and Ryoma's softly tapping fingers.Absently she thought that he had such beautiful hands, and wondered briefly if he manicured them. After all, it was hardly unusual nowadays to find boys with varnished fingernails. Why, that day she overheard Horio preaching to the others about this nail saloon that he visited which was- Oh, he was talking to her.

"Wha..?"

"I said, do you want to get out here? I'm not really hungry."

To be honest, Sakuno hadn't eaten since morning and was starving.

"Oei. It's not a difficult question. Yes? No?"

"Ah..if Echizen-san wishes to go then-"

"Don't call me that."

"….Call you what?" Feign ignorance.

"Don't call me 'Echizen-san'. We did _it _yesterday night- Itai! What did you hit me for?!"

"Don't talk so loudly!" Sakuno glanced around wildly to see if anyone heard their conversation. They were safe, there was noone from school and everybody was busy inhaling food.

"Why? Are you shy, Sa.Ku.No?"

"Don't call me that!"

"But I think we should start calling each other by our first names. We have reached _that_ stage, Sakuno."

"No we didn't!"

"We did."

"We didn't!"

"We did."

"We just kissed!" Silence reigned after that statement.

Huh. So that was his plan.

Ryoma was trying to get her to admit what happened last night. Like the idiot that she was, she fell headfirst into his trap. He had the audacity to smirk at her, victory within his grasp. She huffed loudly and crossed her arms, turning to look the other way. Her anger was so strong, her fingers were noticeably trembling.

* * *

Finally, the day was picking up, Ryoma thought. It had been a miserable morning, first with That Quack turning up late and having the cheek to say that he was 'kinda hung over, ya know?' And such a person was a much respected figure in his field. Trust Tezuka-buchou to pick out the weirdos to torture him. All they did during the visit were tests, where there was a lot of 'oohing' and 'tsking' on That Quack's part. They were told at the end of the visit to come back in two weeks time for the results, and in the meantime could Ryoma please inform the head nurse to cancel all other appointments as he had a baseball game to attend?

Ryuzaki's presence was the only thing that kept him from leaving the charade altogether. Strangely enough, he felt somewhat soothed when she was around which actually baffling as this was the first time he knew of her having such an effect on him. It wasn't hard enough to get her to go with him to That Quack's hospital. Ryuzaki-sensei had done that for him, saying that it would be good for Sakuno to keep an eye out on Ryoma. She probably would not have done that if she knew that Ryoma wanted an eye and more from Ryuzaki right now. Hm. Not good thoughts to be having. He hoped Ryuzaki didn't notice that he was suddenly flushing.

Boldly, he stared at her despite the uncomfortable tension in the air. He could sense her uneasiness, and for some reason it thrilled him. Ryoma resumed his finger taping on the table, knowing that it annoyed her. Really, Ryuzaki was just too cute sometimes.

They both jumped when a ringing tone emitted from Ryoma's pocket. He scowled when he noticed the name flashing on his phone. It was tempting to simply end the call but he knew it would make things worse. Abruptly, he growled out his annoyance to the caller on the other end. Only to receive a single line in return changed his world.

"Echizen," Sano-sensei calmly intoned.

"You cannot play anymore."

* * *

**I tried to write longer, I honestly did. Unfortunately, I tried to write a dissertation too.**

**My life is absolute cow dung.**

**Any ideas where this story should go? Running out of juice lately. **

**Do review. I read them at work and it makes my writer's heart go pitty pat pat.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Characters do not belong to me.**

* * *

_"Echizen," Sano-sensei calmly intoned._

_"You cannot play anymore."_

* * *

Okay, she could do this. It was hardly a momentous task; Tomo-chan did it everyday, barging into everyone's business as if they were her underlings. All she had to do was knock on his door and ask him what had turned him into a morose schlump. And if she got burnt in return, then, well, at least she tried.

Seconds before knocking, she paused. What if talking to Ryoma only made things worse? She wasn't so sure that _she_ was the one Ryoma would talk to most, Kaido-buchou and Momo-senpai were surely wrong about that. This was insane; whatever compelled her to believe that she and the prince of tennis were…..friends? They barely even spoke ever since the visit to the hospital. Not that they had spoken much before, but at least they could actually talk to each other. Now, he hardly ate and had taken an almost unhealthy interest in the television. The strange thing was, Ryoma wasn't interested in any particular programme, he just switched it on and watched whatever was on for hours.

No, she had to find out. It was killing her. Squeezing her eyes shut, she raised her hand to knock. When her hand merely made a soft thump instead of the clear rap against wood, she found herself to be literally knocking against Ryoma instead of the door. Sakuno thought that she made some sort of gaping sound, to which Ryoma narrowed his eyes at her. Grabbing onto her arm that was still resting against his chest, he swiftly pulled her into his room and closed the door.

* * *

Momoshiro Takeshi lazily scratched at his ear while considering what his current captain had said. "Naw, I don't think we scared Sakuno off. Didn't you see her eyes gleaming and all? That is not the look of someone who is not interested. Anyway, what's the worse that could happen? It's not like Echizen would hit her or anything you know," Momo concluded, sounding annoyed at the end.

"Ahou, who the hell do you think I am? Of course I know that!" Kaidoh growled out from across the table.

"It's just that," he continued while looking at random strangers sitting around their booth. "Echizen could hurt her. Not physically, but he could…say things, that he wouldn't even know what they would mean to her. You know her; Sakuno is always sensitive about such things." He didn't have to elaborate; he knew that Momoshiro would catch on. They had all seen Sakuno's condition when Echizen first left, bravely putting on a smile that did not reach her eyes. She had not known it yet, but everyone of the regulars had come to think of her as Echizen's girlfriend. Of course, both of them were too dense to realize the extent of their feelings then. Especially Echizen.

Echizen was very much a stupid fool. Everyone could see how different he was around Sakuno. Naturally, he was not a passionate lothario, but Echizen was too failingly polite to Sakuno, too stiff. And that was what had caught everyone's attention. Echizen was hardly an amiable person, he had burst of cheekiness when in a comfortable crowd but otherwise he was typically expressionless. With her however, it seemed as if he carved out barriers to shield himself. And he hadn't even notice that he was doing it.

Kaido's musings were interrupted with the arrival of Tezuka. Momo the Ahou cheerfully greeted their ex-captain and shifted further inside his bench so that Tezuka was seated beside him. He had no idea how it was possible, but Tezuka seemed even more stoic than ever. After exchanging banalities and ordering another round of drinks, Tezuka swung right into it.

"You have talked to her? " Why was it, Kaido wondered briefly, that Tezuka's questioning always felt like commands?

"Ah. We finally decided it was time, Echizen seemed to be getting worse," Momo raised his hand to wave someone over before continuing. "We didn't tell her much though; only that she had to knock some sense into Echizen." The latest visitor had them all pausing and shuffling in their seats to make room. Another round of drinks was ordered before the conversation picked up again.

"Now then, "Fuji calmly began. " Explain to me exactly what you mean Tezuka, by Echizen not being able to play tennis?" Momo and Kaido both sweat dropped at the seeming nonchalance of Fuji. His fingers that were holding onto his drink were slightly trembling though, revealing his emotions lurking beneath. Only he could get away with speaking so unabashedly to the captain.

"It is exactly as I have said. I have received word from Sano-sensei about the seriousness of Echizen's condition. He will never be able to play again with that arm. "

"That's not possible," the tensai countered tersely. "Echizen is no fool; surely he is not so careless as to expire his arm. Sano-sensei is mistaken." Beside him, Kaido's phone alerted that he had received a message. Kaido promptly replied and moved out to claim two empty chairs from an opposite booth.

"On the contrary, it is. His father has spoken to me in the past on how worried he was about Echizen burning himself out. His obsession in becoming number one in the world was the main catalyst. He was so focused in succeeding; he hardly noticed that his arm was hurting more and more during matches. Naturally, the pain became too great, leading to Echizen's retirement." He briefly paused in his speech to nod at Kikumaru and Oishi, acknowledging their presence.Kikumaru gave enthusiastic hellos to everyone while Osihi murmured his order to a nearby waiter.

"Don't be stupid Tezuka." The whole group comically froze and swiveled their heads to Fuji's direction.

"Echizen is not just any mere tennis player. He is able to play with both hands." Fuji's gaze was unwavering and resolute as he stared at Tezuka. The tennis captain in turn, acted as if nothing unusual had taken place. Instead, Tezuka calmly reached for his tea and began to sip at it. To the rest of the regulars, it seemed as if the sound of Tezuka sipping could be heard throughout the whole restaurant. Their gazes flickered nervously between Fuji and Tezuka. A distinctive 'Okasaaan' was heard being plaintively muttered underneath Kikumaru's breath. Momo shushed him instead.

"That is easily explained, Fuji."

"Inui!" Four voices chorused together. Fuji discreetly pulled a chair for him from the empty booth behind them. A few seconds later, Kawamura appeared, clutching his own chair that he had hastily grabbed from another nearby booth. Profusely apologizing to everyone, he explained that he and Inui had been caught in a traffic jam.

"No wait," Oishi said, cutting in when before Kawamura could begin a second round of apologies. The same waiter that had been serving them all day appeared then. Inui declined to order, saying that he had brought his own drink. Kawamura was already hunched over to listen to whatever that Kikumaru was furiously whispering in his ear.

"What do you mean Inui? What do you know? How can this be easily explained? This is an extremely serious matter. Why are we told this only now?"Oishi folded his arms disapprovingly and looked at everyone gathered around the table. " I don't understand, what is going on?"

"Shall I tell them Tezuka?" Inui asked. When there was no response, Inui finally began to piece the puzzle together for the regulars.

"It is fairly simple. Fact number 1 is that Echizen Ryoma is a profoundly gifted left hand tennis player. Fact number 2 is that Ryoma is also ambidextrous. In a cutthroat tennis match, he is able to play with his right hand and almost usually win."

"When you take away fact 1 and 2, you are left with the current condition that Echizen is in. Am I correct, Tezuka?" An ominous silence was left to fill the aftermath of Inui's words.

"So..." Oishi whispered hesitantly. "What you're trying to say is that…."

Tezuka finally confirmed what was on everyone's mind.

"He cannot play with both arms."

* * *

Once they were in the room Ryoma abruptly let go of her. It was hard to determine who was more surprised between the two. Quickly recovering, Ryoma resumed an impassive stance and stepped away from her. "What is it? I heard you outside the door,"

This was the first time she had ever been in a room belonging to the opposite sex. It was quite an eye opener, despite the room being too darkly lit for her to see anything. Not that she was interested to see his room of course. She was here on a mission, not to spy on him.

"Anou…Echizen..." She stopped halfway, noting that Ryoma was suddenly scowling at her. Oh, right. "I mean, Ry...Ryoma kun…" Her voice faded after, realizing that she was speaking his first name out loud. It had not happened ever since he left…

"Yes?" He prompted, hurrying her along. Really, what was with Ryuzaki? She was even more of a ditz than usual. He had been lying down, furtively trying to sleep, and would have succeeded if she hadn't started to pace outside his door. Naturally, he recognized it was her due to the softly treading footsteps. The old coach's was more of a brisk stampede, so it was easy to tell them apart.

While Ryuzaki began mumbling to herself, (he caught words like 'Momo-senpai', 'Kaido-buchou' and 'concerned'. He tuned out after that.) Ryoma caustically began to study her. Mentally, he began ticking points against her. Nobody had seriously realized it yet, but Ryoma was a heterosexual, stuffed-full-of-hormones, regular seventeen year old boy. Therefore, at one point or another in his life, he had begun to notice the differences between men and women. Typically of Ryoma, he had begun to develop high expectations of his future mate.

The spectacled specimen in front of him failed to even twinge the barometer of his expectations. Reasonably attractive looks? Nada. Intelligence? Nada. A generous amount of tennis skills? Perhaps if generous equaled the level of elementary school students. In all his years of knowing Ryuzaki, which was not many at that, he had hardly thought of her. She came to tennis matches, she left. She came to school, she left. She came to the airport, he left. That was it.

And yet, Ryoma found himself wanting whenever he was with her. He remembered little things about her, which he had no idea he noticed before. Yesterday, he had found a misplaced pair of strawberry hairclips. Knowing how often she wore it, he had returned it to her room without her realizing it. Ryuzaki was wearing that same pair now, he noticed.

"…which is why you should talk to them Ryoma-kun, maybe they can help you with whatever you are facing. I think it would be a good idea, ne?"

"No."

"Demo, they are-"

"**No**."

"Ah...I see..." An awkward silence filled in their gap. Sakuno was desperately swallowing the words that were dying to break out of her. Kuso, what the hell was she doing? When would she ever see? She bit her quivering lip, not quite understanding why she was hurting so much. She couldn't give up, not now. No matter how stubborn Ryoma was, she had to make him see. "Just…please, Ryoma-kun, can't you tell even me? Just share it, I swear I won't-"

" Stop it Ryuzaki. It's none of your business."

When Sakuno thought about it later, it wasn't because Ryoma had so cruelly put across what she had known for years; that he cared nothing for her thoughts or feelings. Him reverting back to 'Ryuzaki', after playfully calling her 'Sakuno' the past few days, punctured her already fraying control. Releasing her pent up emotions, she violently shoved him.

The force of her actions was so strong; Ryoma actually slipped back a few steps and would have fallen into a disgraced heap if not for the bed behind him. He merely blinked in shock at her as she raged over him while he slumped on the mattress.

"You dare to say it is none of my business? You dare?" She hissed. Sakuno could actually hiss, Ryoma dumbly thought.

"Everybody is worried sick about you! My grandmother hardly thinks of anything except how to help you, Momo-senpai and Kaido-buchou argue worse than ever because of you, Tezuka-buchou is so busy finding the best treatment for you, and I….I…." Sakuno angrily brushed away her tears.

"But you! You just sit around, being so stupid, feeling sorry for yourself! As if, as if, you _died_ or something-"

"Shut up," Ryoma grated, resentment at Sakuno rapidly growing inside of him. "Just shut up."

"I don't care what you all do. I don't care about your grandmother, about the regulars, about you. I didn't ask for anyone's help, or their sickening pity. You think you all know how I feel? None of you have any idea what it's like, none of you! " His voice had risen with every word, to the point that Ryoma was shouting at her now. Sakuno only got madder.

" We don't want to understand how you feel! Don't you get it, we just want you to move on. Feel life again, instead of, this shell that you've become. It's all for you, yet you're such an ungrateful, moronic-"

"Get out." For added emphasis, Ryoma stalked towards the door and ripped it open. "Get lost now."

Her culminating rage finally doused into a frighteningly numb awareness. Kami-sama, what had she done? Woodenly, she whispered something to herself before she left. And throughout the rest of the night, Ryoma replayed her last words over and over again, her haunting words sounding more disturbingly final each time.

_" I give up…."_

* * *

**I watched March of the Penguins. And fell in love. Prolly explains the mood at the end. ( Pingu...sob)**

**So, this is an okay length right? No? Ah, blessed relief of brain drain**.


	12. Chapter 12

**Dude, they don't belong to me.**

* * *

_Her culminating rage finally doused into a frighteningly numb awareness._

_" __I give up…."_

* * *

Okay. So perhaps, he had possibly overreacted. A little.

" Ah, almost forgot! Here's your milk Echizen-san, douzo!"

Or maybe he hadn't? From the way Saku- no, Ryuzaki, was acting, it was like nothing had happened. He peered at her suspiciously while sipping at his milk. Ryuzaki was flitting about the kitchen, chirping about nothing ado to the old coach. Her bright countenance practically lit the room.

" Oba-san, I'll be staying at Tomo-chan's place tonight. It's been awhile since I had a sleepover, I hope that's okay?"

Ryoma's eyes sharpened at that. Avoiding him already was she? Fine, he didn't give a damn. His ears grew irritated listening to her anyway, laughing at whatever answer the old coach gave her.

"Ehhh, is that the time?! I'm sorry Oba-san; have to run now, class duty today. Echizen-san, I'll see you later at school!" A gust of wind formed over the space where Ryuzaki had been sitting. Ryoma calmly took another long sip of his milk, quelling the urge to run and…just run.

"So, what did you do?" The old coach's eyes calmly assessed his stiffening posture, though her former student's eyes gave nothing away.

"Nothing,"

"Hm.I wonder…"

"What?" His voice was slightly raised.

"Nothing."

A grating silence made itself known in the kitchen. The two individuals that were enveloped in it stubbornly refused to break down, both waiting for the other to make their move known first. Ryoma grew tired of it after a few minutes. "I'm going," He grabbed his things, about to leave for school when the old coach stopped him.

"Be careful Ryoma," He didn't think she meant the journey to school.

* * *

Tomoka was beginning to feel worried about her friend. On the surface, there was nothing wrong with Sakuno, except that she was a little pale looking. She seemed exuberant though, despite the tiredness of her features. Their classmate Jun was regaling her with an interesting story about his pet dog, Sakuno's laughter peppering his sentences every now and then. Something strange was going on, though she couldn't be certain of it.

" So, you feel it too huh?"

Horio settled on the edge of her desk as he noisily chomped on melon bread. Tomoka pinched a bit of his snack, ignoring the indignant 'hey!' coming from him. "Feel what?"

"Ya know. Sakuno-chan."

"I do not_ feel_ Sakuno."

"While that is a nice image, that's not what I meant, and ya know it," Horio offered another small bit of his melon bread, to which Tomoka absently grabbed at.

"I don't know…It's like…Sakuno is usually…She's not very…"

"Cheery?"

"Exactly. She's more the…um…"

"Subdued?"

"You're quite the wordsmith today, aren't you?"

"Well, I did score the highest on the last language exam."

"That was plain luck. You probably cheated anyway."

"Well, if that's how you feel, I won't tell you what this great Horio knows then…" Finishing up the last of the melon bread, Horio crumpled a plastic wrapper and brushed off leftover crumbs on his lap. Well, he would have anyway, if Tomoka hadn't sunk her sharp manicured nails into his wrist. He hissed in pain and jerked his hand but for a girl Tomoka was horrendously strong.

"If you don't tell me, I'll tell everyone about what really happened that time in P.E,"

"What the- That's blackmail! And it was a friggin accident!"

"Sure, an accident caused you to wet your-"

"Allright! I'll tell you!" Horio checked to make sure that noone, especially Sakuno, was paying attention to his next words. He made a dramatic show of scanning the class twice, mainly to irritate Tomoka.

"Right, so I was taking a leak," A gagging sound emitted from Tomoka upon hearing this. "Oi, oi, telling an important story here. As I was saying, was taking a leak, when I heard someone having a conversation inside a stall. Guess who?"

"I don't know Yoda, but I suppose you'll tell me anyway,"

"Eh? Yoda? Anyway, this person goes something like, 'I'm fine Kaa-san, I just miss Karupin.' I guess you know who it is now huh?"

"So Ryoma misses his cat. What does that have to do with Sakuno?"

"I haven't finished. The next thing I hear coming from him is 'Ah Kaa-san, I'll be in America in two days… No, I don't want Oyaji to get me,' Geddit now?"

"Oh my god."

"I immediately left after that of course, didn't want him to know I listened in on him. Hey, I think I'll make a great spy, whatdja think?"

"Oh my god."

"Yeah, I know. Echizen is leaving again. Too bad for Sakuno eh?"

Tomoka shoved him off her desk.

* * *

The loudmouthed girl was glaring at him, Ryoma was sure of it, it was hardly subtle. Hnh, so Ryuzaki had already told her. Had very likely him painted him as the Bad Guy in the tale, which Ryoma supposed he was. He leaned back further in his chair as the sensei's voice lulled the classroom to sleep. Soon he would have to tell the school that he would be away for a while, though Ryoma didn't think they would put up much of a fuss considering his stellar grades so far.

The regulars would have to be informed; else he would be murdered when he came back. He had an inkling they would murder him anyway, whether he told them or not. The old coach would have to be told tonight. Other than them, there wasn't anyone else that he felt inclined to mention his momentary absence.

_Liar, liar._

In two days, he would be back on American soil with Karupin in his arms. The pull of escapism was calling out strongly to him, he could almost imagine the sense of freedom he would soon have. No more crazy Quacks suggesting experiments, no tennis captain dictating his every movement, no silly fangirls presenting love notes to him everyday. Blessed, blessed relief.

_Liar, liar._

He would be glad to be away from Japan for a while. Maybe he wouldn't even come back. There was nothing here anyway. Ryoma closed his eyes and tried like hell to ignore the whispering ache within his chest. Enough.

* * *

Sakuno hummed a tune as she helped washed the dishes at the sink, though for the life of her she couldn't identify the tune.

"Ryoma said to thank you for all your help," Her grandmother continued. She had arrived two hours earlier from the airport after sending Ryoma off. Sakuno had just gotten in from staying the night over at Tomo-chan's house.

"Sou ka? That's sweet of him,"

"Hm yes, sweet boy, that Ryoma." A giggle was the only answer that Sumire received from her granddaughter. Sumire waited for any other response from her, but she just began humming again. Inwardly Sumire sighed, though she knew that if she pushed Sakuno for an explanation for her odd behavior, the child would just clam herself up further. "I'll be heading to bed now. Don't stay up too late."

Sakuno nodded smilingly at her grandmother, her eyes twinkling in mirth. Alone once more, the twinkle began to dull out. She resumed humming again, desperate to feel normal. So what if Ryoma didn't even bother to say goodbye? It was fine, she was fine about it. They were hardly friends, just….acquaintances that were thrown together due to unusual circumstances. Her hands began to feel raw from lathering too much soap on an unclean plate. Mechanically she washed the soap away from her hands and dried them on a nearby towel.

It would be nice to have just her and Oba-san in the house. She would have the television all to herself once more; noone else would be hogging the remote control. There would be no surprise visits from the regulars, and no midnight calls from stalkerish fangirls.Oh, and she would finally get the toilet all to herself again! Ryoma always did like to take long baths, which could be annoying when she was pacing outside, waiting for her turn.

Flicking off her bedroom light, Sakuno burrowed deep into her bed covers while hugging her stuffed cat tightly to her chest. It was then that she suddenly recalled of Ryoma mistakenly thinking of her room as his that first night. An image of his reddened expression when he accidentally encountered her underwear popped into her mind, causing Sakuno to dissolve into quiet raptures.

It took mere moments for the long withheld tears to come.

* * *

About 2 months later, Ryoma called the Ryuzaki household. Sakuno overheard her grandmother conversing quietly with him, and nearly asked to speak to him before remembering that they were back to being strangers again. She left the house so she wouldn't be tempted to snatch the phone and demand him to come back.

The second time Ryoma called, Sakuno was the one who answered. Her senses had prickled as soon as it rang, and before she could stop herself, she had the phone grasped firmly in her hand. An awkward silence met her as soon as she spoke.

"…Ryuzaki?"

"Hai! Who is this?" She ruthlessly adopted a light tone.

"Ry-Ah, Echizen-san! How are you? Everything okay in America? "

"Fine."

"Ahah, that's great!"

"Hm."

Sakuno had forgotten how brief Ryoma could be. When the pause became too painful to bear, Sakuno scrambled out a number of excuses and hurriedly hung up.

* * *

Ryoma stared dumbly at the now useless telecomm contraption in his hand. It was somewhat ego bruising, the speed at which Ryuzaki had ended the call. Still, the hurt did nothing to dispel the warmth he felt upon listening to her speak.

It took him two days to realize that he missed Ryuzaki Sakuno. Badly. Even having Karupin around did nothing to lessen it. It was almost embrassing how much of a sap he was becoming. His parents probably knew there was something off about him, though they hadn't found out what. Oyaji had already told him to 'stop moping about'.

He was also harbouring another secret from them.

Flexing his left shoulder slightly, Ryoma practiced another basic tennis serve. It was only recent, but his injury didn't seem as bad as before. Of course, it could be due to the 57 page instruction booklet that the Quack had given him when he left for America, detailing as to what exercises were best for him.The Quack called everyday, asking how Ryoma's progress was, and clucking at him to come back so that they could begin proper rehabiliation.

Of course, Ryoma didn't believe that he could miraculously heal, which was why he didn't dare tell his parents. It would just dampen their hopes when his injury returned again. Practicing tennis 15 minutes a day had helped to keep his mind off his emotional turmoils.The rest of the time though, Ryoma found himself wondering what Ryuzaki was doing.

At first, he was annoyed at his uncharacteristic musings. It was fairly ludicrous, Echizen Ryoma becoming distracted by a bespectacled female.He spent his nights staring at the walls, recalling their last words to each other, rehashing the words again and again. He flinched each time, remembering how harsh he was.

Pride kept him going back and apologising. He nearly cracked today though, when he heard Ryuzaki's voice.

Kuso, he _had_ to go back now.

* * *

**Woah! Dude, I updated!**

**On another note, I looked at my stats counter today, and I'm amazed at the number of people who read my work. Seriously, whoever you guys are, if you made it this far, you give me the fuzzies.**

**Oh I'm jobless too. So I have all the time in the world to read reviews. (I know, I'm disgustingly shameless, but dammit, I like reviews)**


	13. Chapter 13

**I do not own the prince**

* * *

_Pride kept him going back and apologising. He nearly cracked today though, when he heard Ryuzaki's voice._

_Kuso, he __had to go back now.

* * *

  
_

Karupin contemplated. The odds were, the boy didn't know about this new human in the household. Karupin lazily stretched out in his sunbeam, working out the odd kinks in his furry body. Nonchalantly, he started fussing over his paws while steadily gazing at the new human. It was a strange sight really. Most people, when they came to the house and saw him, would either squeal over him or run in fear of him. This new human just sat on the sofa and stared through him. It was rather insulting, really, which was why Karupin pretended not to see the new human, despite the strong kitty urge to sniff and investigate.

He was slightly startled though, when the new human suddenly walked over to him and crouched down. Karupin of course swished his tail at the intruder and was about to walk away in a dashing manner when this new human began scratching behind his right ear. Of course, he tried to put up a fight. But it was his sweet spot this new human was scratching and he was slowly becoming a puddle. Karupin had no idea how it happened, but five minutes later, he was purring loudly in this new human's warm lap, absolutely certain that this was his new favourite slave. With the smell of strawberries slightly wafting through his nose, Karupin slipped into a contented sleep.

* * *

Everybody made a wide berth when they encountered the two of them. It didn't help both that Nanjiroh was wearing his usual yukata and swinging a leek around while singing a Japanese folk song. Ryoma was desensitized to his father's flashes of insanity, so he calmly went about the supermart picking out groceries. Of course, his mother had bailed out on the trip knowing how excited her husband became when he was out in public. However, something felt funny about today.

His father seemed extra obnoxious for one thing. Every aisle they went, he behaved strangely. If Ryoma picked up a loaf of bread, Nanjiroh dumped two more in the cart. If Ryoma picked up a bag of potato chips, three more went in the cart. "Are we having some sort of weekend party?" Ryoma asked when his father placed three gallons of milk with the other accumulating produce. This was only their third aisle, but his mother was rather social, and entertained friends and family member during weekends sometimes. His father's answer pricked him slightly however. "Party? Hah! Don't you know seishounen, me and wifey will be gone the next two weeks. Leaving you….." Nanjiroh sniggered to himself, which soon escalated into full out gleeful laughter.

"Oh. Where are you going?" Ryoma asked disinterestedly while pushing the cart into the meat section. He wasn't very hungry at the moment, and looking at all the red meat displayed made him slightly nauseated. "Somewere." Nanjiroh answered, while ripping off and chewing a chunk of leek.

"Hmm" Ryoma politely agreed. Maybe he should get Karupin something to eat here?

"Going to Japan."

" …..Japan?"

"Yep!"

Okay, Ryoma's senses started to sit up. Something was definitely not right. Why was his father so cheery today? Granted, he was so harpy all the time, but something other than the meat section smelled extra fishy today. "Why are you going to Japan?" Ryoma prodded further. Nanjiroh was like the Oracle, ask an outright question and you'll receive a nonsensically cryptic answer. The key was to lull him into complacency, then whack him on the head.

"Temples."

"You're going to see temples?"

"And eat sushi. Lots of it."

This was a maddening hint, Ryoma was sure of it. Temples. Sushi. What did it all _mean_? Ryoma gamely asked another question. "Visiting friends?"

"Nope. No friends in Japan."

No…wait what? What about the old hag of a coach? Catlike eyes sharpened on Nanjiroh. Abandoning the game altogether, he bluntly asked, "What is it?"

"Hmm?"

"Something is strange. What is it?"

Nanjiroh didn't answer, but grabbed several unidentified boxes from the health produce aisle and threw it in with the rest of their items. He gave a serene smile at his son instead. Ryoma very nearly snarled at his father when he realized what the recent additions in their cart were. Sputtering, he felt his face grow alarmingly heated. "What are you doing? Put those back!"

"What, this?" Nanjiroh loudly exclaimed while fiddling one of the small contraband boxes between his fingers. Seeing how Ryoma was about to burst, Nanjiroh finally took pity on his son. He laughingly placed the contraceptives back and seized two bottles of aspirin from the rack instead. "Relax seishounen, I was just playing with you. And no, nothing strange is going on." Wheeling the cart to the cashier, Nanjiroh cheekily continued under his breath, " Well, nothing strange to me anyway."

* * *

This Was A Bad Idea.

No, no, it was worse than just a bad idea. Sakuno thought people should be jailed or something before they did acts as stupid as this. Although, if there was such a law Sakuno probably would spend all her life in a cell. She was a bit of a ditz, which everybody and their mother gleefully reminded her when she forgot. Flying all the way to America because Ryoma was horribly sick was probably her most ditziest move yet.

Still, she couldn't stay in Japan. When she overheard Horio exclaiming that he heard Momo saying that Ryoma's health had gotten worse, the only thing certain to her was that she had to go see him. Her original plan was quite brilliant actually. She wouldn't tell anyone she was coming of course. She was just going to sneak around, maybe in the hospital or something, and see how Ryoma was. Sakuno was going to be the invisible ninja nurse, taking care of him when he was asleep, making sure that he healed as comfortably as he could.

Everything was perfect, until Tomo-chan found out. It was partly also Sakuno's fault too. She had written her plans in her notebook, which Tomo-chan somehow got a hold of. Her best friend was furious. Waving the notebook about, she ranted and ranted, until she could no longer find enough words to belittle Sakuno's 'harebrained scheme.'. After the tirade, she marched Sakuno to stand meekly before Oba-san while she highlighted the various points why Sakuno should not be let out of her room until she was 30. It was the most embarrassing and infuriating moment in her life.

As if Karupin sensed her feelings, he purred louder and gently bumped his head against Sakuno's chin. Obligingly, she scratched behind his ear. Once he had settled in her lap again, Sakuno's thoughts began to drift back to her Oba-san's reaction. Instead of giving Sakuno that look which made her feel lower than dung, Oba-san had instead laughed and encouraged her to go to America. Come to think about it, Oba-san made her go the next day. It was as if everything had already been booked and planned…..

Ryoma's mother had welcomingly let her in, and was somewhere in the house packing for a trip. When Sakuno had asked which hospital Ryoma was at and if she could visit him, she had given a nervous titter and instead told Sakuno that she would see him _very soon_. Uneasiness stealthily crept at the back of her neck. Something was not right with this trip. Why was her Oba-chan so manic about her coming here? Why would Momo-senpai tell Horio of all people that Ryoma was very sick, when such information would more likely be confidential? Why had Tomoka told her she was sorry when they were at the airport?

Looking into Karupin's golden feline eyes, the uneasy feeling that she had been somewhat duped grew.

* * *

_In Japan _

"Hey Momo-senpai, you think Sakuno-chan will kill us?"

"Of course Horio, that's a given. But in order for true love to run its course, sacrifices must be made."

"Sometimes I wonder how you never became captain Momo-senpai. You are so wise,"

"Actually I was given the choice, but I turned it down so Mamushi's feelings wouldn't get hurt. Him being sensitive and all."

"Oh." A strained cough. "Right."

* * *

The best thing to do at this point would be for Sakuno to run away. Decision made, she carefully placed the sleeping cat on the sofa and practically ran to the front door. Sakuno nearly made it, until she heard Ryoma's Kaa-san calling her name. She stood uncertainly, stuck between making a run for it and well, making a run for it. Her ingrained sense of politeness won.

"Ah, there you are!" Echizen Rinko inwardly smiled, noticing the young girl standing awkwardly near the front door. Most likely about to dash away, Rinko thought perceptively. "I'm sorry I left you on your own for a while, but I've made your room. Shall I show it to you?" Before Sakuno could even answer, Rinko gently but firmly steered her in said direction. "The room has a lovely view of the garden. As you're probably noticed, we've incorporated a lot of our Japanese heritage in the house." As Rinko casually talked about interior decorating, she also scrutinized the young lady who was going to be her future daughter-in-law.

The girl was admittedly plain, and deathly pale. She barely spoke, and was painfully shy. Karupin seemed to love her though, which was a good sign. However, Sakuno needed more confidence to deal with the insensitive clod that was her son. There was a potential with her looks though. She had large luminous eyes, and clear translucent skin. The braids had to go though, she thought critically. Rinko glanced at the clock, and deducted that her husband and son would be home in thirty minutes.

"Why don't you take a nap? I'm sure you must be exhausted from the long flight," Sakuno immediately agreed to the suggestion. She _was_ tired. And she badly needed a rest so that she could think things through later. Thanking Ryoma's Kaa-san for her generosity for letting her stay with them, she went inside the indicated room. Fifteen minutes later, Sakuno slept soundly on a warm bed.

* * *

Ryoma had been strangely dumped by his parents. There was no explanation for it. Ten minutes after arriving home, his parents hugged and kissed him goodbye, breaking the unspoken 'no touching' rule, then drove straight to the airport. He mentally shrugged off their behavior, figuring that weirder things had occurred in the Echizen family. Passing Karupin on the couch, Ryoma tweaked his cat's furry ears before heading for a bath.

It would be nice to have some peace in the house again. He knew his parents worried about him, and cautioned him against his progression in tennis. Ryoma still couldn't play a full game, but al least he could comfortably swing a racket now and then and there would be no sharp twinge. Sano-sensei, or more aptly known in Ryoma's head as The Quack, even came to America every now and then to check up on him. Everyone called or emailed to ask about him.

No. Not everyone. Seven months after leaving Japan, Ryuzaki still had not contacted him. Nope, couldn't be bothered to, that girl. Of course, he wasn't surprised for the coldness, given their last conversation. He just didn't expect it to be so…final. She gave up, so that was it? No second chance, no 'I'm sorry Ryoma', just an abrupt halt to everything?

Heck, he nearly flew back after hearing her voice. It wasn't like he missed her or anything crazy like that. Of course not. Ryuzaki was just in his head all the damned time and he was so tired of it he needed her to put a stop to it. Sometimes, when Ryoma was at his lowest point, he recalled all his encounters with her. Their one time charged kiss perversely got extra playback in his demented mind. So of course, just to torture himself, he replayed the scene again. And again.

His froze in the midst of his daydream however when he heard the bathroom door click open. And came upon the ridiculous sight of Ryuzaki sleepily rubbing her eyes as she walked into the bathroom. Ryoma was convinced he was hallucinating. Maybe the bathwater was so hot his brains had fried. Ryuzaki still hadn't noticed him. She looked cutely rumpled, with her hair down and slightly mussed, and face bare of her usual glasses. Was this one of….._those_ dreams?

* * *

She felt slightly grumpy and disconcerted when she couldn't find Rinko-san. The nap had not done her any good. She had managed to sleep for what seemed like minutes when she woke up, only to find that despite her exhaustion, she couldn't sleep again. Sakuno had nearly gotten lost in the house as she futilely tried to locate Ryoma's Kaa-san who had strangely disappeared.

Grumbling under her breath, she decided to shower and walked to the nearest bathroom she could find. It was slightly steamy in here, Sakuno guessed that Rinko-san had prepared a bath beforehand and had forgotten to inform her about it. She nearly walked into a wall; everything was blurry as she didn't have her glasses on.

Encountering what she assumed was a mirror, she wiped on the condensation to have a clearer look at her reflection. Staring at her features, all Sakuno could see was a tiresome imitation of herself. She was leaning closer when a hazy form in the mirror moved. Sakuno squeaked and turned wildly only to see a wide eyed Ryoma in the tub. For a few seconds they gaped at each other. Gaining her senses, she rambled out apologies and hastened out of the bathroom.

Safely ensconced in her room, she locked her door and instantly burrowed herself under the bedcovers. Her hands were shaking so badly, the phone nearly slipped as she dialed for her Oba-chan. She had seen Ryoma! He was bathing! She was going to be murdered by fangirls! Sakuno imagined her hysterical demise when an abrupt knock sounded at her door. Insanely enough, she thought that if she didn't answer, Ryoma would assume that she had gone away. When the doorknob rattled and Ryoma made all sorts of threatening noises, she finally walked on jellified legs to her doom.

She nearly slammed the door on him when she saw his usual stoic expression. No words were exchanged, none were needed. Ryoma just stood there, looking at her. After seemingly making a decision, he walked into the room and firmly clicked the door close behind him.

* * *

**Im sorry I didn't update for so long. A lot happened, which im still dealing with. Amazingly enough, I still got reviews from time to time,which never failed to make me feel all fuzzy inside. I missed you , reader. **


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